Judge: Indictment sufficient in DeKalb schools' chief case

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The allegations in a corruption indictment are enough to move forward with a trial for two former top DeKalb County school leaders, a judge ruled.

DeKalb Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker denied requests to dismiss the charges against former superintendent Crawford Lewis, former chief operating officer Patricia Reid and two others, according to court records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.

Lewis and Reid, along with Reid’s former husband Tony Pope and her former secretary Cointa Moody, are charged with running a criminal enterprise at the school system.

On Wednesday, Becker issued an order denying their request to drop the charges.

“The indictment is sufficient as a matter of law in that the defendants have adequate notice of the nature of the offenses charged,” the judge wrote.

The judge also denied Reid’s request to have the trial moved outside DeKalb.

A grand jury indicted the four in May on charges of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, theft by a government employee, bribery and falsifying a public document.

The four pleaded not guilty earlier this month. No trial date has been set.

District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming declined to comment Wednesday, only saying “we stand by our indictment.”