A former Boone County Schools official said he’s not guilty of stealing from the schools in a scheme that added to $3.4 million in losses. Former head of maintenance Michael Barker faces an 18-count indictment accusing him of defrauding the school system and entered a “not guilty” plea to mail fraud, conspiracy, theft and money laundering charges. He’s accused of using his position to order large amounts of items such as cleaning supplies during the COVID pandemic with schools only receiving a fraction of the items purchased. Prosecutors said Barker worked the scam with an unindicted Rush Enterprises official Jesse Marks. Eyewitness News reported that the Boone County Board of Education ended up paying more than $470,000 for soap that was never delivered. Barker’s trial is set for Feb. 11 in Charleston.