Superintendent stole to cover gambling

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former school superintendent admitted Tuesday in federal court to stealing more than $800,000 from the school district, money he said he needed to pay for an addiction to riverboat gambling.

Ronnie G. DeShon, 50, pleaded guilty Tuesday to program fraud, admitting he embezzled $844,477 from the Pattonsburg School District in northwest Missouri between 2000 and 2004.

U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said the district’s bank account had a balance of only $14 when DeShon resigned in October 2004. The district serves about 220 students.

DeShon faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole, but Graves said it’s more likely he will be sentenced to between 30 and 37 months.

A message left at DeShon’s home in Gallatin, about 70 miles northeast of Kansas City, was not immediately returned.

Graves said that in 2000, DeShon told state officials that a bank account in his own name was a second school district account into which state and federal funds should be sent.

The prosecutor said DeShon was able to make false entries to suggest the district’s bank account held the correct amount.

As school board members grew suspicious, DeShon turned himself in October.

Robert Bruner, Pattonsburg’s new superintendent, said the district is insured and should recover most of the losses.