EAST ST. LOUIS - A Maryville woman - 37-year-old Tiffany Taylor - joins Leonard Johnson, 33, of St. Louis, and Jeremy Turner, 31, of Dallas, in new federal charges after an investigation into corruption and self-dealing at an East St. Louis charity. All are under separate federal indictment for crimes associated with the Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House (“Neighborhood House”), a non-profit organization in East St. Louis that receives federal funds.
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The indictments come just two months after Christopher Coleman, the former executive director of Neighborhood House, pleaded guilty to embezzling over $250,000 from the organization in 2016 and 2017. Coleman, 42, of Troy, Illinois, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19, 2019, at the federal courthouse in Benton, Illinois.
Johnson and Turner are both charged with aiding and abetting Coleman’s embezzlement and making false statements to law enforcement. Coleman allegedly directed the payment of Neighborhood House funds to business entities controlled by the defendants – approximately $24,000 to Johnson under the business name “JCS Consulting” and over $40,000 to Turner under the business name “Teach Me Technology, LLC.” According to the indictments, both men then used the money they received to make cash payments back to Coleman. The indictments further allege that both Johnson and Turner later lied to the FBI and IRS agents about the existence of the kickbacks to Coleman.
Taylor is charged separately with making false statements to a federal agent. The indictment against her alleges that from 2015 to 2018, Neighborhood House provided fiscal support services for the administration of federal grant funds to a Cahokia School District after school program. During that time, a significant number of Apple products – including Apple watches, iPads and MacBook Pro laptop computers – were allegedly purchased by Neighborhood House and provided to people associated with the after school program. The indictment alleges that Taylor, a grant manager and writer for the Cahokia School District, lied to a federal agent by falsely denying that she had requested the Apple watches.
Embezzling from an organization that receives federal funds is a felony offense, punishable by as much as ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Making a false statement to a federal agent carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
An indictment is merely a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.
The ongoing investigation of these cases is being conducted by the Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force, which consists of agents with the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Illinois State Police. The prosecutions are all being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith. Citizens are encouraged to report suspicions of public corruption to the Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force Tip Line at (618) 589-7373.
