DEL RIO, Texas – A Georgia man admitted in federal court Monday to stealing more than $2 million from the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District, federal officials in San Antonio said Monday.
Donald Ray Lockard, 66, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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Lockard admitted in court that while doing business as DL Investments from August 2019 to February 2020, he stole school district funds and used them for his own personal benefit.
According to court records, fraudulent emails from people claiming to be representatives of the financial institution to which the school district made bi-annual bond payments were sent to the school district’s comptroller. The emails resulted in the diversion of the payments to a different financial account established and controlled by Lockard. Three separate fraudulent wire transfers to Lockard’s account on Feb. 12, 2020, totaled $2,013,762.50. During the investigation, federal authorities seized over $1.8 million from the defendant’s bank accounts.
Lockard has agreed to forfeit those funds and pay a monetary judgment for the remaining amount derived from his scheme that was not recovered by the government.
He faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.