YORK, Pa. — The former principal of a York County charter school was sentenced to five years of probation for fraudulently obtaining and misusing federal grant money, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam announced Friday.
Leonard Hart, 50, of Mount Wolf, was also ordered to pay back the more than $55,000 he received in fraudulent reimbursement requests between 2018 and 2020, when he was principal at the Lincoln Charter School in York, Karam said.
According to Karam, LCS is a recipient of federal program funds because it receives grants funded by the U.S Department of Education—primarily Title I funding, which is financial assistance for schools with high numbers of children from low-income backgrounds.
Hart served as principal and CEO of LCS from 2013 to 2021, Karam said. The school offers a program by which employees are able to get partial tuition reimbursement for furthering their education.
Karam said Hart misrepresented that he was pursuing a Ph.D. and submitted numerous requests for reimbursement for courses that he falsely claimed he was taking from a couple of universities.
He also falsified records to support these claims for tuition reimbursement and pressured a lower-level employee of the school and former LCS student to assist him in creating a forged diploma, according to Karam.
Hart admitted to submitting to LCS nearly 20 false and fraudulent reimbursement requests between 2018 and 2020.
At sentencing, Hart presented a check for $10,000 toward his total restitution payments, Karam said.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma prosecuted the case.
