Ron Bailie School Founders Sent To Prison

The founders and operators of a broadcasting school attended by more than 17,000 students have been sentenced to prison for embezzling student loan repayments.

The sentences handed down Friday by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour marked the final chapter of the Ron Bailie School of Broadcasting, which once operated in Spokane, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Phoenix and Denver.

Bailie, 60, who started the school in his garage while working at KJR in Seattle in 1963, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $450,000 fine and $259,619 in restitution.

His wife, Nada, 60, and their daughter, Terri Bailie, age unavailable, were each sentenced to two years and three months and a $25,000 fine. Nada Bailey was ordered to pay $221,892 and Terri Bailie $263,862 in restitution.

All three were convicted by a jury in September of multiple counts of conspiracy, false statements and embezzlement of funds from the Perkins Loan Program, once known as the National Direct Student Loan Program.