United States of America v. Charles A. “Chuck” Jones and Mark J. Whitaker

Memphis, Tennessee criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiracy to defraud the

Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) E-rate program.



Charles A. "Chuck” Jones, 52, and Mark J. Whitaker, 51, both of Murray, Kentucky, were accused of conspiring to defraud the government.



The E- rate program is an FCC program that provides money to needy schools, often in rural areas of America,

for internet access and telecommunications services. The program has specific rules that forbid

service providers to the schools, such as Jones, from paying kickbacks to school officials and

consultants. The E-rate program also requires participating service providers to charge at least a

10% copay.



For approximately 10 years, Jones, owner of several Murray, Kentucky businesses, paid kickbacks to

an E-rate consultant working with the Missouri and Tennessee schools involved in this case. During

the conspiracy Jones, his employee Mark J. Whitaker, and the schools' E-rate consultant, made false

statements and submitted fabricated documents regarding the required copays and the program's fair

and open bidding process. Jones used the victim schools as a vehicle to fraudulently obtain money

from the E-rate program. The loss to the E-rate program was approximately $6.9 million.



Jones pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and Whitaker pled guilty to misprision on wire

fraud.



United States District Judge Mark S. Norris sentenced Jones to 18 months imprisonment, three years

of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $3.5 million in restitution.

Judge Norris sentenced Whitaker to one year of probation.



United States Attorney Kevin Ritz said, "Protection of federal grant programs that provide

needed services and equipment to our schools in West Tennessee is a top priority of this



office. When dishonest offenders conspire to defraud these programs for their own selfish gain,

they not only steal tax dollars, but also hurt local schools in the process. We will continue to

work with our federal partners to root out and expose such fraud against the government, to hold

offenders accountable, and to recover ill-gotten gains."



Sharon R. Diskin, Acting FCC Inspector General said, "These sentences send a strong message that

individuals who defraud a vital federal subsidy program, such as E-rate, will be held fully

accountable for their actions. I would like to thank our partners in the United States Attorney's

office for the Western District of Tennessee and the FBI for their unrelenting dedication to this

case.”



This case was investigated by the Federal Communications Commission - Office of Inspector General

and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.



United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked former Assistant United States Attorney Murre Foster and

Assistant United States Attorney Tony Arvin who prosecuted this case,

as well as the law enforcement partners who investigated the case.

Jones was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Whitaker was sentenced to one year of probation.