Schools
Ex-School Official Tied to Newport Superintendent Gets 4 Years In Prison
Karen Anne Christiansen is also ordered to pay $2 million in restitution to Beverly Hills Unified. Newport-Mesa chief Jeffrey Hubbard goes on trial Friday in a related case.
Former Beverly Hills Unified School District facilities director Karen Christiansen was sentenced to four years and four months in prison Thursday after a jury found her guilty of .
Christiansen -- who worked for the district as an independent contractor -- was charged in December 2010 along with , who is scheduled to go on trial Friday for three felony counts of misappropriation of public funds from his tenure as superintendent of BHUSD.
Christiansen was also ordered to pay the district more than $2 million in restitution for money received by her company, Strategic Concepts.
Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Christiansen was released on $500,000 bail pending an appeal of the sentence. She has been in custody since being found guilty Nov. 21 of charges relating to a deal she negotiated to be an independent BHUSD contractor while serving as facilities director. Christiansen had served as project manager for the $334-million bond and was reportedly also paid $5.2 million by the district for consultant services between 2006 and 2009.
The successful prosecution and sentencing of Christiansen bodes well for the BHUSD, which has spent more than $2 million on legal fees relating to the trial.
Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“This is a victory for our community and for governemnt,” Board of Education President Brian Goldberg told Patch. Goldberg attended the Tuesday sentencing.
The district recently recovered $6.6 million in a from Johnson Controls, an Orange County energy company that secretly hired Christiansen to be a consultant. BHUSD officials are also pursuing settlements with other businesses that profited from their association with Christiansen.
Christiansen’s sentencing comes a day before Hubbard's starts in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He is charged with giving a raise and car allowance to Christiansen without approval from the BHUSD school board.
Hubbard now serves as superintendent for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. He would lose his teaching and administrative credentials—and hence his job—if he is found guilty, the Daily Pilot reported Dec. 31.
