Schools
Poe Middle School Principal, Stuart High Administrator Charged with Embezzlement
Sonya Swansbrough and Bethany Speed allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 over the last three years.
Poe Middle School Principal Sonya Swansbrough and another Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) employee were charged with embezzlement and money laundering Monday.
Fairfax County police believe Swansbrough, 46, of Woodbridge, and Bethany Speed, 38, of Burke, an administrative employee at Jeb Stuart High School, have embezzled more than $100,000 since May 2010.
Speed is Swansbrough's former finance technician, according to a message sent out to Poe parents by Cluster 3 Assistant Superintendent Douglas Tyson. The message further states that Swansbrough has been "temporarily relieved of her duties" and Poe Middle School Assistant Principal Colleen Noone will take over as principal for the time being.
The charges against the two women comes about two months after FCPS asked Fairfax County police to look into "allegations involved falsifying timesheets for personal financial gain," in late September, according to a news release from the Fairfax County Police Department. The investigation was a joint effort between the FCPD Financial Crimes Unit detectives and FCPS human resources office.
Swansbrough's son, Brenton Rusnak, 20, of Radford, was also charged with receiving stolen property in connection to this case.
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The full email from Tyson that was sent to parents reads:
“We regret to inform you about an unfortunate situation but we wanted the Poe Middle School Community to learn of this news first as you may be reading or hearing about this in the media over the next few days.This morning, Principal Sonya Swansbrough was charged by law enforcement in connection with financial impropriety with school funds. She has been temporarily relieved of her duties while an investigation is under way. Our current assistant principal, Colleen Noone will be the administrator in charge for the time being and we ask that you give her your full support during this difficult time.
Principal Swansbrough’s former finance technician, Beth Speed, is also facing similar charges. We are not at liberty to discuss in greater detail the specifics related to these charges as this remains an ongoing Fairfax County Police Department investigation. However, internal processes brought these issues to light which were then turned over to law enforcement for further investigation.
As hard as this situation is, we ask that our parents keep a positive focus for their children and their continued academic success. We as a school staff are committed to our mission to continue to provide the very best educational services for our students. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
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