A former employee of the Valentine Independent School District has been taken into custody by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on criminal charges stemming from an alleged plot to misappropriate school district monies for personal needs illegally.
According to court records, Valentine ISD-issued credit cards are used illegally and inappropriately by Ernesto Villarreal, 42, of Marfa. Villarreal was supposed to use the cards for approved transactions as business manager and assessor/collector of taxes.
Instead, Villarreal is accused of using credit cards for hundreds of individual purchases, such as travel, accommodations, home renovations, hardware store purchases, personal cell phone bills, fuel, oil changes, convenience store purchases, university tuition, and numerous other unlawful expenditures. Furthermore, Villarreal allegedly created bogus payroll payments that he transferred to his personal bank account by accessing payroll data for several district workers and former employees.
According to the accusations of the indictment, Villarreal would allegedly alter the direct deposit details for current and past workers and substitute his bank account details for the information. Villarreal faces eight counts of wire fraud and one count of theft for projects that receive government funding.
If found guilty, he may spend up to 10 years in jail for the first count of wire fraud and up to 20 years for each additional count. Jaime Esparza, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, released the statement.
With assistance from the Texas Rangers and the Department of Education Office of Inspector General, the FBI is looking into the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Greenbaum prosecuted the case. As of the 2022–2023 academic year, Valentine ISD, a tiny school district, has 44 students enrolled. According to the University Interscholastic League, nine high school students are enrolled overall.
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