Schools

Schools Chief Jeffrey Hubbard Indicted on New Charge

Newport-Mesa Unified School District superintendent pleads not guilty to a third felony charge.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard has been indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles on an additional felony charge of misappropriation of public funds.

Hubbard, 54, pleaded not guilty to the charge today before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. He now faces three felony counts of misappropriation of public funds that stem from when he was superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. Hubbard remains out of jail on his own recognizance.

According to the indictment dated Oct. 7, Hubbard allegedly authorized a pay increase for Nora Roque on May 11, 2005, without the school board's approval, while she was employed at the district in Beverly Hills. She now works at N-MUSD.

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The new charge is similar in nature to the original charges—which Hubbard pleaded not guilty to in January—that refer to incidents that are alleged to have occurred while he worked at Beverly Hills Unified between September 2005 and February 2006. According to documents from the district attorney's office, Hubbard gave Karen Anne Christiansen, the district director of planning and facilities at the time, a $20,000 stipend and an increased car stipend without school board consent.

Hubbard took five months of voluntary paid leave to prepare for his defense and at N-MUSD in June.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If convicted, Hubbard faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison. He will be back in court Nov. 10.


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