January 28,  2010

            LANSING -  Attorney General Mike Cox today announced the arrest of former Godwin Heights School District official Jerry Lewis Emde.  Emde is charged with falsifying student counts to obtain approximately $1.8 million in excess student aid during the 2006-2008 school years in order to further his professional career. 

            "This case is especially troubling for neighborhood schools which are playing by the rules while getting hit with budget cuts," said Cox.  "This case was cracked thanks to the hard work by the Michigan State Police, the Wyoming Police Department and staff from my office."

            Emde, the former Principal of the Godwin Heights School District's Learning Center alternative high school, is accused of illegally bringing $1.8 million in excess state education payments to the Godwin Heights district.  Emde allegedly falsified attendance records to reflect regular attendance for non-attending students.  State audits show that Emde created attendance records that inflated student enrollment.  Fictitious classes were also allegedly created on paper and represented as legitimate to state auditors. 

            Emde faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of charges including:

• Two counts of False Pretenses over $20,000, a ten year felony;

• One count of Misconduct in Office, a five year felony; and

• Four counts of Schools-Falsifying Records, a two year misdemeanor.

            Emde, 47, of Plainwell, was placed on paid leave May 2008 after the investigation was launched, and he resigned that summer. 

            The Defendant was arraigned today at 62A District Court in Wyoming before Judge Steven Timmers.  He is next due in court for a preliminary examination on February 17.

            A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the Defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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