Jackie Pons in the clear: FBI, FDLE drop investigation of superintendent with no charges

Jeff Burlew | Tallahassee Democrat

The FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have closed their investigation into former Leon County Schools Superintendent Jackie Pons, according to a document obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat.

The FBI and FDLE opened a joint investigation in April 2014 into allegations that Pons steered school construction contracts to campaign donors and disregarded state procurement statutes, according to an FDLE investigative report.

On May 30, FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations was informed by the FBI that federal prosecutors "declined to prosecute" Pons. The FBI also told FDLE that it was closing its investigation.

The back story:

“The FDLE agreed to provide the FBI with investigative and analytical support throughout its investigation,” the FDLE report says. “As a result of the FBI closing its investigation, the FDLE considers this matter to be closed and will take no further action at this time.”

Pons, in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, said U.S. Attorney Christopher Canova told him in a phone call several months ago that the FBI’s long-running investigation was over. More recently, officials with FDLE told Pons it, too, had closed its investigation.

“I don’t think I’m a big interest to the public like I was when I was superintendent, but I think what you go through with an investigation like this is something I’d like people to know,” Pons said. “You go through that and what it does — it changes you forever."

Pons has been alluding to the news for weeks on his Twitter feed.

“Get ready the truth train is coming!” he tweeted on May 24. “What if it was all a lie,” he tweeted June 20 and again July 7.

No charges were ever filed in the probe, which began after an anonymously penned notebook surfaced containing a multitude of accusations against Pons, many involving his handling of major school construction contracts that went to some of his biggest political donors.

Pons always maintained he was innocent of wrongdoing and the allegations were manufactured by his political enemies, including the current superintendent, Rocky Hanna, who took information to the FBI in late 2013 or early 2014 and became a whistle-blower in May 2014.

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It began with the notebook

Hank Coxe, a Jacksonville lawyer hired by the district several years ago to investigate the allegations, found that Hanna compiled the notebook and former Lively Technical School Principal Woody Hildebrandt provided documents that ended up in it. Unnamed others also gathered materials for inclusion in the notebook, according to a report Coxe gave the School Board in 2015.

The notebook, which was signed by “Concerned Leon County School Board Employees and Citizens of Leon County, the state of Florida and the United States of America,” was sent to 25 people in eight state and federal offices, from the Governor’s Office to the FBI. It also found its way to various media outlets, including the Democrat.

“Hanna acknowledged being responsible for circulation of the ‘notebook,’ and admitted in our interview that he had no knowledge of whether the facts (relevant to our inquiry) were valid,” Coxe said in his report.

While not denying Hanna's role in creating the notebook, Chris Petley, a spokesman for the school district, said Wednesday that Coxe’s assertion was untrue.

“Superintendent Hanna never admitted to being responsible for the circulation of the notebook,” Petley said.

Coxe also found that the district circumvented state law in the way it chose vendors for construction projects. But he found no criminal or fraudulent intent.

The Florida Auditor General later echoed those findings. In a 2014 report, the agency said the district did not follow competitive selection processes spelled out in statutes for major school building projects. The district went on to revamp numerous procurement policies.

The notebook and the ensuing investigation and media coverage unleashed a firestorm of controversy that ultimately led to the end of Pons' 10-year tenure as superintendent. Hanna, who’d been at odds with Pons over his reassignment as Leon High principal to a central office job, crushed Pons in the 2016 election.

Hanna did not return a call and text from the Democrat but later issued his own written statement on news of the closed investigation.

“As a result of the investigation, LCS policies and practices have been amended to ensure state statutes are being followed,” he said. “For the first time ever, the Leon County School Board received zero audit findings on our most recent audit report. It is a new dawn for the Leon County School System and I am proud of the work we have done to eliminate wasteful spending. We look forward to the start of another great school year beginning Monday, Aug. 13th.”

Pons said the policy changes Hanna mentioned happened when he was still superintendent. He added that the day's news wasn't about audits.

"It's about this investigation being over and finding no wrongdoing," Pons said. "Mr. Hanna has never apologized to this community for the million dollars that this investigation cost our taxpayers... I think this is all best summed up by what was said in the Democrat editorial of October 2016 when the editorial board said what if all of these investigations are nothing more than a political hit job? And I think that sums all of this up."

'Where do I go to get my life back?'

After the election, Pons went on to take jobs at Florida State University and the Florida A&M University Developmental Research School. The FBI investigation faded from headlines, but it didn’t escape the attention of prospective employers. Pons longed to clear his name.

The FBI declined earlier overtures to meet with Pons. But last spring, he decided he wanted to meet with Canova to discuss the investigation and the possibility of public verification it was over.

He rang up Canova’s office, got a phone call back and set up a meeting. He went in without a lawyer and against his lawyer's advice. Canova reminded him at the outset he had the right to have one present.

“I said I don’t need an attorney, I’ve had an attorney for four and a half years,” Pons recalled.

The U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment for this story.

Pons told Canova he’d been looking for a job but missed out on a couple because of lingering doubts over the FBI probe. He was being interviewed at the time for senior vice president of an education tech company based in New York, a job he’d go on to win.

“I get in front of committees, I’m first,” Pons said. “I get back in there the second time around and they (ask) me are you under FBI investigation? And so I kind of talked to him man to man.”

Pons told Canova the accusations were lies.

“I said all I’m trying to do is get my life back,” he said. “And if I did something wrong, I need to be held accountable. But if I didn’t, I need to move on. And I need to do this.”

Pons reminded Canova the allegations had been investigated by the district’s in-house law enforcement, auditors, an outside attorney hired by the district and Pons’ own attorney, not to mention the FBI and FDLE.

“He wouldn’t talk a lot about cases,” Pons said. “But I want to say he was very honorable and he treated me very fairly and he listened to me. He said I’ll get back with you.”

Weeks went by before Canova got back to him. The news would render Pons speechless.

“He says congratulations,” Pons recalled. “And he said, I wanted to personally call you and tell you that the investigation’s over. So immediately, you know, I just lost it. I mean I cried. For about three or four minutes, I couldn’t say anything. I had different feelings and he said just take a minute, take a minute. He was very understanding and compassionate and very fair.”

Pons composed himself and thanked Canova.

“But I said what about what these guys have done?” he said. “Where do I go to get my life back? I mean they made all this stuff up. It’s cost our district over a million dollars. And I said now it’s over.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.