Cincinnati School Boss Signed a Lease That Exposed Where Your Tax Dollars Really Went

A Cincinnati charter school superintendent got caught funneling millions meant for troubled teenagers into his own pocket.

Federal prosecutors say Leondo Davenport ran the scheme for years while the school served addiction-recovery students who had nowhere else to go.

What Davenport signed his name to next is the detail that has Ohio taxpayers demanding answers.

Superintendent Signed a Two Year Miami Lease With School Money

Dohn Community High School wasn't some flush suburban district.

It served students battling addiction, kids other schools had already given up on.

Leondo Ramone Davenport served as the school's superintendent from 2015 to 2019, then kept running it through his own LLC for years after that.

Federal prosecutors say he also ran a private theft operation on the side.

Davenport's partner in the scheme was Jonathan Larry Ballew, a 62-year-old contractor based in Phoenix.

Ballew submitted fake invoices through entities he controlled.

Davenport approved the payments.

Then Ballew kicked roughly $4 million of that money straight back to Davenport.

Prosecutors say the total fraud topped $8 million between 2021 and 2024.

And in October 2023, while addiction-recovery students sat in Cincinnati classrooms, Davenport signed a two-year lease on a luxury vacation rental near Miami.

The rent ran $30,000 a month.

That's $720,000 for a beach house, paid for with money that was supposed to teach kids how to read.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald didn't mince words when the indictment dropped.

"Education dollars exist to support the learning and development of American children – not to fund the lifestyles of unscrupulous school officials," McDonald said.

Ohio Auditor Keith Faber called it exactly what it was.

He labeled it "an egregious kickback scheme."

Luxury Cars and a Beach House While the School Collapsed

Dohn Community High School closed its doors in 2025.

Davenport was already long gone from the classroom by then, but the damage was done.

The $8 million didn't just buy a Miami rental.

Investigators say it also bought luxury vehicles for Davenport and Ballew.

Both men now face wire fraud charges carrying up to 20 years in prison.

They also face charges for laundering money derived from unlawful activity, another 10 years on top.

U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace framed the case as a message to every grifter still skimming off government contracts.

"We're putting an end to fraudsters exploiting public trust," Gerace said.

FBI Special Agent Jason Cromartie put it even more bluntly.

"Fraud against the government is fraud against every taxpayer," Cromartie said.

Cincinnati taxpayers funded a superintendent's Florida getaway while the students he was supposed to serve lost their school entirely.

This isn't an isolated bad apple story, either.

Pattern of Theft Runs Through School Districts Nationwide

Davenport and Ballew are the latest names in a fraud pipeline that's been bleeding American schools for years.

A joint report from the State Financial Officers Foundation and Open the Books tracked nearly 90 cases of K-12 fraud over the past six years.

The total: roughly $225 million stolen across 24 states and Puerto Rico.

In Los Angeles, a school district employee is accused of steering $22 million in contracts for personal gain.

In Indiana, two now-shuttered online charter schools pulled in $44 million by inflating enrollment numbers that didn't exist.

In California, a Magnolia School District director allegedly embezzled $16.7 million meant for classrooms.

Only about $67 million of the total $225 million has ever been ordered repaid.

SFOF CEO OJ Oleka summed up why these cases sting worse than ordinary government waste.

"Defrauding education dollars meant to help kids learn and succeed is especially hideous," Oleka said.

The report also found that only three of the nation's twenty largest federally funded school districts have ever shown up in federal fraud investigations.

That's not proof the other seventeen are clean.

It's proof nobody's looking hard enough.

Every Layer Between Washington and the Classroom Is Another Chance to Steal

Federal education dollars flow through layers of state agencies, nonprofit operators, and charter boards before a dollar ever reaches a classroom.

Every one of those layers is another chance for a guy like Davenport to write himself a check.

The recovery rate on stolen education money is worse than a bad bet in Vegas, and Davenport knew the odds were in his favor until the FBI showed up.

Expect more indictments like this one as auditors finally start pulling invoices that governors and school boards ignored for years.

Sources:

• Casey Harper, "Taxpayer dollars earmarked for education spent on Miami vacation property," Just The News, September 2026.
• U.S. Department of Justice, "Grand jury indicts former community school superintendent, business partner in $8 million fraud scheme," Southern District of Ohio press release, September 2026.
• Ward Clark, "Brazen 8 Million Dollars Fraud: Ohio School Cash Funneled to Miami Luxury," RedState, September 7, 2026.
• Fox News, "Explosive report finds $225M in alleged K-12 education fraud amid Trump's crackdown: 'Especially hideous,'" Fox News, 2026.
• Gregory Lyakhov, "More Fraud: LA School Official Accused of Steering $22M for Personal Gain," Townhall, April 7, 2026.