An Atlanta daycare owner pleaded guilty to stealing almost $2 million from a federal program designed to feed children.
Federal prosecutors said Antonio T. Hurt, 38, pocketed money that was supposed to provide breakfast and lunch for children attending Bright Star Early Learning Centers across metro Atlanta and other daycares in North Georgia that used the Bright Star name.
According to a news release Wednesday from the office of U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, between October 2007 and January 2010, Hurt submitted millions of dollars in reimbursement claims to the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program. In refund documents, he fabricated information about the daycares, including inflating the number of students eligible for the program and number of meals served. When the money came from the federally funded program, Hurt gave each daycare center the money it expected but kept the fraudulently inflated portion, according to the news release.
"This critically important program provides basic sustenance for those most in need," Yates said in the release. "Instead of paying for school day nutrition, he used the money to expand his daycare business, lease luxury cars, buy jewelry, and pay for other personal expenses. We will continue to hold accountable those who siphon off public funds for personal use."
Hurt, a former Georgia high school principal from Baltimore, is scheduled to be sentenced June 18.
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