Dr. Nkechy Ezeh, the 2018 West Michigan Woman of the Year and a two-time appointee to the State of Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation’s Executive Committee, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution and around $390,000 in back taxes.
Dr. Ezeh was a tenured professor of education and the former CEO of Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, a Grand Rapids nonprofit that supported education for low-income children.
Federal prosecutors say Ezeh told ELNC’s bookkeeper Sharon Killebrew to create fake invoices used for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization. Ezeh put family members on a ghost payroll paying them hundreds of thousands of dollars for little to no work and sent money to family in Nigeria.
Officials say the 61-year-old also used the money to pay for trips abroad and a family member’s wedding.
Both Ezeh and Killebrew plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion. Killebrew was sentenced in November to 4.5 years in prison and more than $1.4 million in restitution.
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