Former Chief Of Pr. George's Schools Gets 6-Year Term

Former Prince George's County schools chief Andre Hornsby arrives at the federal courthouse for sentencing today. (Marvin Joseph - The Washington Post)

That Hornsby was gone yesterday. He entered the courthouse flanked by two of his daughters, Yvette, 24, and Morgan, 15, who hooked their arms with their father's. Hornsby appeared worried, and his hair was noticeably grayer than it was before his first trial.

Hornsby looked at each of the half-dozen educators who spoke to Messitte on his behalf, and he kept his eyes on a computer screen at the defense table as his attorney, Robert Bonsib, played videos of another half-dozen educators praising Hornsby and asking the judge for leniency.

But when his daughter Yvette stood before Messitte to speak of Hornsby's devotion to his family, his gaze veered to the left, away from his daughter.

Bonsib said Hornsby plans to appeal.

There is no parole in the federal system, and most defendants serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. In addition to the six years in prison, Messitte ordered that Hornsby be placed on three years of supervised release.

He must also pay a fine of $20,000, plus $70,000 to Prince George's County in restitution for the $345,000 private report the county paid for to investigate Hornsby's dealings. Messitte said he did not know whether the price of the report was valid.

At Bonsib's request, Messitte ordered Hornsby to serve his sentence at a prison in Oklahoma City, near relatives. The judge also ordered Hornsby to enter an evaluation and treatment program for alcohol abuse while in prison. He said Hornsby had to surrender himself to the federal Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 2.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said he was not disappointed by the sentence. "A six-year sentence is a pretty substantial sentence in a public corruption case," Rosenstein said.

Judy Mickens-Murray, a former member of the Prince George's County Board of Education who opposed Hornsby's selection as schools chief, said she thought the sentence was appropriate. "I think it is important to send a message to children that there are going to be some adults that look out for their welfare, and consequences are important."

Hornsby was accused of secretly steering a school system contract worth almost $1 million to his then-girlfriend, Sienna Owens, a sales representative for LeapFrog Schoolhouse, an educational technology company. Owens testified for the government that she gave Hornsby half her $20,000 commission, in cash.

Federal prosecutors also presented evidence that Cynthia Joffrion, a longtime business associate of Hornsby's, agreed to pay him $145,000 after he arranged for her to negotiate a consulting contract with Prince George's schools.

In what was perhaps the most sensational piece of evidence in the government's case, prosecutors played for the jury a video of Hornsby meeting with Joffrion in a Bowie hotel room in December 2004. On the recording, which was surreptitiously videotaped by the FBI, Hornsby is seen taking $1,000 in cash from Joffrion and stuffing it into his shirt pocket.