Taking It Up a Notch:

The office of the Inspector General of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has launched its own investigation into allegations of corruption at a Downtown maintenance facility.

Inspector General Jerry Thornton recently told the Garment & Citizen that he has directed his staff to engage an effort similar to another investigation started earlier this year by officials of LAUSD’s Maintenance & Operations division. Thornton declined further comment on any specifics of the investigation by his office.

Sources close to the situation have said that investigative efforts center on suspicions that a member of management at LAUSD’s Central Maintenance Shop—located on the 1200 block of S. Naomi Avenue on Downtown’s eastern edge—used workers and various materials for lucrative private commercial projects. Sources also said that the practice had gone on for several years before the probe by officials of the school district’s Maintenance & Operations division began in January. They added that some employees at the Downtown facility may have been willing participants in a pattern of corruption, while others may have served as unwitting pawns in various schemes.

Investigators have estimated that the various schemes led to the misuse of at least $2 million worth of labor and material, according to sources, with the total likely to climb.

The investigation by the Maintenance & Operations division has been in the hands of a second-tier human resources executive, according to LAUSD officials. The additional presence of investigators from the Inspector General’s office—which serves as the chief watchdog within LAUSD—likely indicates an increased possibility of action beyond administrative punishment if any of the suspects in the case are eventually deemed to be guilty of wrongdoing.

Punishment at an administrative level is often confined to job-related measures, such as demotions, transfers or early retirements.

LAUSD Director of Maintenance & Operations Neil Gamble had already indicated that his unit’s investigation might lead to efforts to pursue any wrongdoers with more than administrative measures. Other sources have said that a number of workers at the Downtown facility have given depositions as part of the investigation by the Maintenance & Operations division. A deposition is a process where individuals provide information while under oath in advance of a court hearing. Depositions are more often used in civil cases than criminal cases, and typically involve witnesses rather than suspects. Individuals may have their own attorney present during depositions, and they are subject to cross-examination in some instances. Information provided during a deposition can be presented as evidence in a court of law under some circumstances.

The depositions offered the first indication that a civil action could be forthcoming in the case. The additional investigation by the Inspector General’s adds weight to such a possibility.

Civil lawsuits generally have a relatively lower standard for proving a suspect’s guilt compared to criminal cases, Civil cases often lead to orders requiring anyone found to have illegally profited from some scheme to make compensation. Such orders often involve finanical payments to individuals or organizations victimized in such schemes.

A conviction in a criminal case could lead to punishments such as prison time probation or other sanctions. The Inspector General’s office would be the most likely avenue for criminal charges if any are deemed to be appropriate in the case LAUSD’s maintenance facility Downtown, although the chances for such a turn may have faded in the early days of the investigation by the Maintenance & Operations division, which did not involve LAUSD’s own police force or any outside law enforcement, according to Gamble.

Neither the Inspector General’s office or the Maintenance & Operations Division has completed their probes in any case, according to Thornton and Gamble.