SC schools employee to plead guilty in $550K scheme to buy video cameras for remote learning

A South Carolina school district employee who concocted a $550,000 scheme to buy 875 video cameras for remote classroom learning is scheduled to plead guilty in January to wire fraud, according to federal court records.

David Cortez Marshall Jr., a former media communications specialist for the Orangeburg County School District, set up several “corporate alter egos” to facilitate the purchase of the 875 video cameras, according to an information, a formal criminal charging document.

“In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic initiated a transition from in-person to online learning, (the) Orangeburg County School District sought to procure video cameras to facilitate remote teaching,” the federal charge said.

Marshall, using his shell companies, bought the cameras from a legitimate video camera vendor, Owl Labs, then sold them to the school district “at a markup of over $130,000,” the federal charge said.

Marshall then “used his official position to steer the purchasing of video cameras to corporate alter egos he personally owned and controlled,” the federal charge said.

The names of the shell companies Marshall created were Flex Technologies LLC, Level 8 Communications and Orangeburg County Purchasing, LLC, according the the federal charge.

A plea agreement in the case signed by Marshall requires him to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date.

Marshall’s guilty plea agreement will not be finalized until he actually pleads guilty. A plea hearing is now set for Jan. 27 at the federal courthouse in Columbia.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud, a felony, is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Marshall is not listed as a current employee of the Orangeburg County School District.

His lawyer, Jonathan Harvey of Columbia, said Wednesday, “Marshall is moving forward to resolve this case, and we have no further comment at this time.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews is the federal prosecutor on the case, and federal Judge Mary Geiger Lewis will be presiding. The FBI investigated the case.

Charges in this case were not previously publicized until Wednesday.

This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 10:47 AM.