Former Beverly Hills Superintendent Convicted Of Misappropriation Of Public Funds
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Beverly Hills school superintendent has been convicted of giving a former female employee more than $20,000 in gifts and increasing her car allowance without board approval.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced Monday that a jury found Jeffrey Hubbard guilty of two counts of misappropriation of public funds but not guilty of a third count. Hubbard, who turns 55 this week, is now the superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
Hubbard was convicted of ordering that former facilities director Karen Anne Christiansen be paid $20,000 in two payments and that her $150-a-month car allowance be increase to $500 a month, all without board approval.
Email exchanges between Hubbard and Christiansen suggested the two had a "special relationship," according to Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman, who prosecuted the case.
Hubbard faces up to five years in state prison. He is expected to be sentenced Feb. 23.
Newport-Mesa district spokeswoman Laura Boss could not immediately be reached for comment
Earlier this month, Christiansen, 53, was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison and tentatively ordered to pay the district over $2 million after being convicted of negotiating contracts between the district and a firm with which her company had a consulting agreement. She was also accused of backing a school bond measure that benefited her firm.
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