Ex-school bookkeeper sentenced to prison

DETROIT (AP) -- A former bookkeeper for the Detroit Public Schools has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for stealing money from the district. Allen Swayze was also was ordered Tuesday in federal court in Detroit to pay the district about $150,000 in restitution. The U.S. attorney's office says the 34-year-old Swayze admits writing fraudulent and unauthorized checks drawn on bank accounts from the Breithaupt Career and Technical Center. The thefts took place between August 2006 and May 2009. The checks were made out to Swayze and deposited into his personal bank accounts. There have been several investigations over the past two years by the district's inspector general, Wayne County prosecutor's office and federal authorities. The probes have found thefts, misappropriations and failures by school officials to carefully track spending. Published: Thu, Aug 25, 2011