After three years of prosecution and two years since a mistrial, charges against the remaining defendants accused in the EPISD cheating scheme will be dismissed.

Three had already pleaded guilty, and their plea agreements will be thrown out. Federal prosecutors decided not to seek a second trial against two remaining defendants.

In a statement issued Monday, U.S. Attorney John F. Bash said the remaining two defendants awaiting trial — James Anderson and John Tanner — will go into a pretrial diversion program "in the interest of justice, and to bring finality to the lengthy and complex litigation involving the prosecution of certain El Paso Independent School District administrators and employees."

As part of their agreements, Anderson and Tanner "accepted responsibility for their behavior," Bash said.

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Charges had already been dismissed against three others accused in a scheme that denied an untold number of El Paso Independent School District students the right to a proper education in an effort to fraudulently boost the district’s test scores, attendance and graduation rates to meet federal accountability standards.

Before trial, U.S. Attorney’s Office officials had said they had a strong case against the former administrators.

Five of the EPISD administrators went on trial in June 2017, but the judge declared a mistrial after finding prosecutors did not provide evidence to defense lawyers.

A new trial was continually delayed. Tanner and Anderson had been scheduled to go to trial in August, until a decision on June 21, which essentially ends the case.

Guilty pleas thrown out

The three defendants who had pleaded guilty — former EPISD Associate Superintendent Damon Murphy, and the district’s former Priority Schools Division directors Maria Flores and Vanessa Foreman — will enter pretrial diversion programs after their plea agreements are thrown out.

The U.S. Attorney's Office asked the guilty pleas be withdrawn "to ensure a fair and equitable outcome for all defendants," Bash said.

Murphy, Flores and Foreman will have their charges dropped after completing the conditions of the pretrial diversion program.

The other defendants initially charged in the scheme were:

Former EPISD Associate Superintendent James Anderson and former Austin High Principal John Tanner were the only two who were still expected to go to trial again.

Former Austin High School Assistant Principals Nancy Love and Mark Tegmeyer had their charges dismissed after entering pretrial diversion agreements.

Former Austin High School Assistant Principals Diane Thomas had the only charge against her dismissed after the mistrial.

Anderson’s lawyer, Robert J. Perez, and Tanner’s lawyer, Elizabeth Rogers, declined to confirm their clients were entering the pretrial diversion program.

Lawyers for Murphy and Foreman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Two defendants, Love and Tegmeyer, had already entered the pretrial diversion program. Neither admitted guilt or wrongdoing.

Pretrial diversion is similar to a probation deal in which the defendants must follow several conditions or risk being arrested during the length of the program.

The length of the diversion agreements was not made public.

EPISD cheating scheme trial

The prosecution of the EPISD cheating scheme was mired in controversy since U.S. Senior District Judge David Briones declared a mistrial in 2017.

Prosecutors turned over hundreds of documents to defense lawyers even as the trial was underway. Documents were still being turned over two weeks after the trial started and dozens of witnesses had already testified, including Murphy, Flores and Foreman.

Briones ruled that prosecutors violated a more than 50-year-old Supreme Court ruling, Brady v. Maryland, which compels prosecutors to turn over all evidence they have gathered in their investigation, including evidence that might exonerate a defendant.

While Briones ruled there was “absolutely negligence" on behalf of the federal prosecutors, he said he did not believe it was intentional. He had ordered the case to be retried.

More:EPISD Cheating Scheme Timeline

The mistrial ruling led Bash to remove lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof, from the case.

In 2018, Donna Svet Miller was appointed lead trial lawyer by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Almost a year after the mistrial, Briones sanctioned prosecutors for misconduct by dismissing the retaliation against a witness charges.

Tanner, Tegmeyer, Love and Thomas had faced charges of retaliation.

Retaliation was the only charge Thomas faced, so the ruling ended the case against her.

The retrial has been delayed multiple times as prosecutors continued to turn over hundreds of documents, computer files and other evidence.

U.S. Attorney’s Office only got two convictions

After an investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office into dozens of EPISD administrators the case will end with only two defendants convicted in the cheating scheme.

Former Superintendent Lorenzo García, who devised the district-wide cheating scheme, served 2½ years in prison after pleading guilty in 2012 to two charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for his role in the cheating scheme and for steering a no-bid $450,000 contract to his mistress.

In 2015, former administrator Myrna Gamboa was sentenced to five years of probation and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249; aamartinez@elpasotimes.com; @AMartinez31 on Twitter.