PARIS, Ill. (WCIA) — Nexstar’s WCIA has learned more about an investigation into a Central Illinois superintendent who was raided by the FBI.
According to documents received through a FOIA request, the District Court for the Central District of Illinois subpoenaed the school district last June for a representative to testify in front of a grand jury. Among the documents requested for the testimony include the employee files for two employees (whose names were redacted), ethics acknowledgements policies of employees of the district, and the receipts for reimbursements of more than 100 checks.
It also asked for the school district to produce the physical items for several items ordered in 2020 and 2021, including Roombas, a Google Nest, a 75-inch TV and an iPad.
All materials were presented to a federal grand jury in Peoria later that month.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed last year that FBI agents were searching the home of then-superintendent Jeremy Larson for “court-sanctioned” activity. An Illinois State Board of Education audit found more than $3 million dollars spent in unallowable expenses from different grants. The Paris School District later came up with a payment plan to repay the grant money.
Larson agreed to a “mutual separation” agreement with the district at the end of 2023. He has not been charged with any crime. The school district has since hired on a permanent superintendent, who will start later this summer.
