Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993 TAG: 9312150098
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Michele Weaver, 37, pleaded guilty Monday in Circuit Court to obtaining money under false pretenses. The former first-grade teacher will have to repay the school system under a plea agreement reached before trial.
No sentencing date has been set. The conviction carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
"Based upon the sentencing guidelines, I would expect her to get probation," said William Bray, assistant commonwealth's attorney.
School officials said Weaver, who was hired in November 1991, lied on her job application and forged her diploma from Medgar Evers College in New York.
"I wasn't trying to fool anyone," Weaver said after the trial. "I was doing what I do. I teach."
Weaver earned about $15,320 during the 1991-92 school year and $24,237 last year. She does not have to forfeit all her earnings, because she was qualified to be a teacher's aide.
School officials said they realized something was wrong when they tried to get a copy of Weaver's teaching certificate from the state Department of Education. The department refused to issue a certificate, because the college could not provide a transcript proving Weaver had graduated.
But school officials said they thought the problem was with the college.
"They weren't at all thinking the lady was deceiving them," said Michael Packer, attorney for the School Board.
Officials later found out that Weaver had given them an inaccurate college transcript and two fake diplomas, complete with an imitation seal and a fake name of a purported college official.
Weaver did attend Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York in Brooklyn but never graduated.
"It's funny . . . she was supposed to be a pretty good teacher," said William Kissner, the police detective who investigated the case. "The kids liked her."
by CNB