Former Patterson school district assistant superintendent, IT director plead guilty in $1M embezzlement scheme
SACRAMENTO — A former assistant superintendent and a former IT director at the Patterson Joint Unified School District (PJUSD) pleaded guilty to a more than $1 million embezzlement scheme in Sacramento federal court on Thursday, Feb. 1.
United States Attorney Phillip Talbert says 43-year-old Jeffery Menge and 44-year-old Eric Drabert admitted to stealing from district programs receiving federal funds among multiple other conspiracies defrauding the school district.
"I was heartbroken for our district, " Superintendent Reyes Gauna told CBS13. "There are no words to describe it."
Gauna was representing the district in the courtroom Thursday as Menge and Drabert entered their guilty pleas.
"To say today wasn't emotional would be a lie. Any time that you discover this type of behavior that impacts funding intended for children is really a tragedy," Gauna said.
Menge was serving as the district's assistant superintendent and chief business officer from 2018 to 2022. Sometime around 2020, Menge hired Drabert to serve as the district's IT director.
U.S. attorneys say Menge and Drabert conspired to embezzle money from the school district. The two allegedly used CenCal Tech LLC, a Nevada company that Menge controlled, to carry out the scheme.
Menge was limited in what he could do when it came to the district's transactions, so U.S. attorneys say he created a fake person named "Frank Barnes" to serve as the fictitious executive for CenCal Tech.
Under the guise of what appeared to be a legitimate company, the two men conducted more than $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions with the school district. Prosecutors said this involved double billing and billing for items not delivered by CenCal Tech to the school district.
Menge and Drabert also purchased high-end graphics cards with district money and used them to operate a cryptocurrency "mining" farm on district property. Then they transferred the mined cryptocurrency to their personal control, attorneys said.
Gauna says he was first approached by district employees in the fall of 2022 with allegations that Menge and Drabert were running the cryptocurrency operation.
"That's when I met with a couple of employees. They disclosed to me about the mining. They showed me where it was at and the investigation started from there," said Gauna.
He turned the information and photos of the technology over to local police and eventually confidentially worked with the FBI. The two employees resigned from their positions in 2022.
Menge also used district money to fund his lavish lifestyle, purchasing a Ferrari, an Audi, a Jeep Wrangler, expensive jewelry, multiple Apple brand electronics, expensive tool kits and even remodeled his home.
Drabert used funds to remodel his vacation cabin.
Prosecutors said Menge embezzled between $1 million and $1.5 million while Drabert stole between $250,000 and $300,000.
"I think parents want to know, you're confident something like this won't happen again?" CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp asked Dr. Gauna.
"From the minute I discovered this was happening we quickly put safeguards in place and started identifying every possible break," Gauna answered. "Parents can rest assured I have done everything I can and will continue to do everything I can to ensure that the funds that come into our district are spent as they are intended and that is to support our children, staff and community."
Gauna says changes have been made district-wide.
"There are many, many checks and balances put in place now," Gauna said. "Now we have cameras everywhere and we put a whole security area in our purchasing department. Everything has inventory."
He says no one in the district can spend district money now without it being thoroughly reviewed.
The FBI raided the two men's homes in July 2023 and seized vehicles, cash, jewelry and computers.
Menge and Drabert are scheduled to be sentenced on May 30. They face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. They were also ordered to pay restitution for the full loss caused by the wrongful conduct.
