The deal calls for Lavonia Lewars to be sentenced to no more than 10 years in prison and pay more than $200,000 in restitution for defrauding a state program that subsidizes child care. If she had not agreed to the deal, she could have been tried and received a stiffer sentence and fine.
Prosecutor John Balenovich called the case “clear cut” and said he will ask Lewars to serve 10 years in prison when a judge sentences her in Jefferson Circuit Court on April 30. It will be up to Judge Barry Willett to decide whether to accept the deal.
“I think 10 years is a fair result,” Balenovich said.
Lewars and her attorney, David Schuler, left immediately after the hearing and declined to comment.
Lewars closed her three day-care centers last year after a June 12 crash of one of her vans injured at least a dozen children and killed one of her employees. She also declared bankruptcy.
The crash and the fraud charges are unrelated. Lewars was indicted in July after a state investigation — which began before the crash — alleged that Lewars falsely claimed children were attending her centers in order to reap more than $300,000 from the subsidy program.
Lewars pleaded guilty to fraudulently planning to obtain public assistance benefits over $10,000 and theft by deception over $10,000, both felonies. She could have faced as much as 20 years in prison and more than $400,000 in fines.
The state originally alleged Lewars had made more than $300,000 in fraudulent charges, but the state agreed it was $205,154.13 after interviewing potential witnesses, Balenovich said.
The fraud investigation began with an anonymous complaint, said Steve Simpson, investigator for Kentucky’s office of inspector general.
An initial audit found Lewars billed the state for more than 100 children at a center with a capacity of 29 children, Simpson said.
The numbers didn’t add up,” Simpson said. “That was a red flag for us.”
The investigation also found Lewars inflated the number of days some children stayed at the day care, he said.
Such fraud is “more common than what you’d think,” Simpson said.
Lewars, who emerged from bankruptcy Feb. 19, still faces a civil lawsuit in connection with the crash.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas H. Fulton ruled that an insurance policy held by Lewars would not be protected as a result of the bankruptcy. That allows the victims of the crash to sue for the value of the policy, said Andrew Horne, an attorney representing the parents of the children injured in the crash.
Their suit argues that a lack of proper maintenance contributed to the blown tire that Louisville police said may have caused the crash.
Police found a large gash in the right rear tire, leading them to believe that it blew before the crash.
The police report also said the van’s estimated speed at the time of the crash was 46 to 50 mph, while the speed limit on Algonquin Parkway where the accident happened was 35.
Keishia Tiller was driving the 2009 Ford Econoline E350 eastbound when she lost control, crossed two westbound lanes and hit a tree near Wingfield Avenue, the report said.
It said the van was carrying 16 people, one more than it was supposed to transport.
The Jefferson County commonwealth’s attorney’s office decided not to press charges as a result of the crash, citing insufficient evidence.
Source: Courier-Journal