Federal prosecutors say a former Ohio charter school superintendent used stolen education money to buy a Rolls-Royce.
A new federal indictment says his contractor partner helped hide millions of those dollars in Miami.
Prosecutors say the two men turned a school built for struggling teenagers into a private Miami retreat.
A Fake Company Empire Built to Loot One Cincinnati School
Leondo Ramone Davenport ran Dohn Community High School in Cincinnati, a charter school built for at-risk teenagers, including kids in addiction recovery programs.
He served as the school's superintendent from 2015 to 2019.
Then he kept running the school through an LLC he controlled until 2024.
That gave him the authority to approve payments with almost no independent oversight.
Jonathan Larry Ballew, a 62-year-old contractor from Phoenix, built four shell companies to exploit that authority.
Core Educational Services, Capital School Services, Progressive Tech Solutions, and Elite Development Resources billed Dohn for technology, staffing, remodeling, and curriculum work.
Federal prosecutors say much of that work never happened.
Invoices from just one of those shell companies totaled $1.4 million for a building on Gilbert Avenue alone.
Davenport signed off on the payments anyway.
Ballew allegedly wired more than $4 million of it straight back to Davenport as a kickback.
Between 2021 and 2024, the two men allegedly drained more than $8 million out of a school meant to save dropouts, not fund a lifestyle.
Rolls Royces, a Bentley, and a $30,000 a Month Miami Rental
While Dohn's staff dealt with delayed paychecks, Davenport bought himself a 2021 Rolls-Royce worth $149,990.
Ballew bought a 2022 Bentley for $67,222.
In October 2023, the two men signed a two-year lease on a luxury vacation property near Miami for $30,000 a month.
That rental alone cost more than $700,000 by the time the lease ended.
A whistleblower's letter to the state said Dohn rostered two intervention specialists on paper just to look compliant with staffing rules.
Those specialists, the letter alleged, were never actually there serving students.
Students graduated anyway.
Dohn handed out three to four hundred diplomas some years, even though most of those graduates tested in the bottom two tiers on Ohio's state exam.
Parent Toshia Harris, who had four children enrolled at Dohn, put it bluntly.
"A lot of our children could have been success stories, but it was never because these people decided they was going to steal the money," Harris said.
Dohn shut down for good in April 2025, citing a lack of money.
Ohio's Auditor Needed a Tip to Catch What Two Men Hid for Years
Ohio's charter school system did not catch this fraud through routine audits.
It caught it because someone finally spoke up.
In June 2024, Jennifer Schorr, an education vice president at Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, wrote directly to Ohio Auditor Keith Faber's Special Investigations Unit.
Her letter flagged $4.2 million in taxpayer money at risk and accused Dohn of academic fraud.
That letter triggered the investigation that eventually produced this month's indictment.
A grand jury handed down an eight-count indictment against Davenport and Ballew, covering wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions.
Federal agents arrested both men the same morning the indictment came down.
Each man faces up to 30 years in federal prison.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald did not soften the message.
"Education dollars exist to support the learning and development of American children, not to fund the lifestyles of unscrupulous school officials," McDonald said.
FBI Special Agent Jason Cromartie backed him up.
"The FBI and Department of Justice are committed to rooting out fraud and holding accountable those who conduct illegal activities," Cromartie said.
California Already Proved These Fraudsters Rarely Pay for It
This is not a new script.
California ran the same play at ten times the size.
Sean McManus and Jason Schrock built nineteen fake online charter schools that pulled in $400 million in state funding, and the pair stole roughly $80 million of it for themselves before anyone caught them.
Even after getting caught, the ringleaders walked away with four years, most of it already served on house arrest, while $160 million of stolen taxpayer money never came back.
Legal analyst Erin Sheley explained exactly why: white collar defendants have money to negotiate with, while street criminals often have nothing to bargain with but time behind bars.
Ohio just proved that pattern again.
Charter and community schools take public money with almost none of the oversight a normal public school district faces, and men like Davenport and Ballew know exactly how to exploit that gap.
Cincinnati parents sent their kids to Dohn hoping for a second chance.
Their tax dollars paid for a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, and a beach rental three states away instead.
If Ohio wants this to stop, the audits need to start before a whistleblower has to write a letter, not after the money is already gone.
Sources:
- U.S. Department of Justice, "Grand Jury Indicts Former Community School Superintendent, Business Partner in $8 Million Fraud Scheme," Southern District of Ohio, September 3, 2026.
- Fox 10 Staff, "Phoenix Man Busted in $8M School Fraud Scheme for $30K a Month Miami Mansion," Fox 10 Phoenix, September 2026.
- Fox19 Staff, "Ex Superintendent, Contractor Accused of Draining $8M From Cincinnati Charter School," Fox19 WXIX, September 3, 2026.
- Dayton247Now Staff, "Taxpayer Dollars Earmarked for Education Spent on Miami Vacation Property," Dayton247Now, September 2026.
- Dayton247Now Staff, "Letter to Ohio Auditor Alleges Outrageous Spending and Other Accusations About Dohn," Dayton247Now, April 18, 2025.
- Voice of San Diego Staff, "In One of the Largest Charter School Scams in History, No One Will Serve Jail Time," Voice of San Diego, June 13, 2022.
- Ward Clark, "Brazen 8 Million Dollars Fraud: Ohio School Cash Funneled to Miami Luxury," RedState, September 7, 2026.
