A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to overcharge the Boone County School system alongside a former maintenance director. Court records show Jesse Marks of Rush, Kentucky was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud after he worked with Michael Baker of Foster in a plot overbill the school system for janitorial and custodial supplies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of West Virginia.
At the time of the plot, Marks was the owner of Rush Enterprises and was contacted by Barker in November 2019 for supplies including hand soap, garbage bags, facemasks and hand sanitizer. Marks admitted that the two entered an overbilling scheme and inflated the number of products being delivered. Eyewitness News said Marks estimated that of the $4.3 million in products ordered by Boone County Schools, nearly $3.5 million worth was never delivered. Marks will be sentenced on June 16. Baker’s trial is scheduled for April 15.