Man behind Dallas County Schools scandal sentenced to 7 years in prison

DALLAS - The man who admitted to orchestrating bribes that led to the end of the Dallas County School District will spend seven years in prison and pay restitution.

It’s been nine months since Robert Leonard pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges. He was sentenced on Wednesday afternoon.

Leonard admitted to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickback payments to former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway.

Caraway accepted the money in several different forms including fully funded trips, gambling money and repayment of personal debt.

In return, Caraway promised actions that would benefit Leonard’s school bus camera company, which had a contract with the now-defunct school bus service Dallas County Schools.

The contracts eventually bankrupted DCS and voters shut it down. Caraway was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Former DCS board president Larry Duncan was also convicted and received probation for fraud related to the scheme. He admitted to using campaign contributions for personal expenses and he didn’t report it to the IRS.