Dr. Horton, DeKalb Superintendent: Indictment, Kickbacks, Arrest

Dr. Devon Horton, the former superintendent of Georgia’s DeKalb County School District, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Illinois in October 2025 on 17 counts tied to an alleged kickback and fraud scheme at the Evanston/Skokie district he previously ran, resigned from DeKalb weeks later, and was separately arrested in January 2026 on a Georgia domestic violence charge. His federal trial is scheduled for October 2026.¹²

What the Federal Indictment Alleges

On October 8, 2025, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois returned a 17-count indictment against Horton and three co-defendants: Antonio Ross, Samuel Ross, and Alfonzo Lewis. The charges include 13 counts of wire fraud and honest services fraud, two counts of theft from federally funded programs, and two counts of tax evasion.¹

The conduct charged occurred while Horton led Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois, a position he held from June 2020 through June 2023.³

The Alleged Kickbacks

Prosecutors say three associates formed companies to secure vendor contracts with District 65. Antonio Ross, a former principal at Chicago’s Hyde Park Academy, owned Connecting the Dots Leadership Initiative. Alfonzo Lewis, an athletic director at the same school, owned New Flight 35 Sports and Academic Academy. Samuel Ross owned Asset Protection Specialist. Horton himself owned a separate entity, Altering the Education Xpectation.⁴

According to the indictment, Horton approved contracts for these companies, signed off on invoices for services that were never performed, and hid his financial interest. Portions of the payments were then kicked back to him directly or routed through a sibling’s bank account. The kickbacks totaled roughly $81,700: about $41,900 from Connecting the Dots, $30,800 from Asset Protection Specialist, and $9,000 from New Flight 35. District 65 said it paid the companies a combined $296,500, and that Horton approved the contracts without board involvement.⁵³

A separate strand of the indictment alleges that Antonio Ross awarded a Chicago Public Schools contract to Horton’s own company, approving false invoices that produced an estimated $10,000 in fraudulent CPS payments to Horton.⁵

Procurement Card and Tax Counts

The indictment also accuses Horton of charging more than $30,845 in personal expenses to a District 65 procurement card, including meals, gift cards, vehicle expenses, and travel. The two tax evasion counts allege he left the kickback income and the personal spending off his 2022 and 2023 federal returns.¹

Possible Sentences and Forfeiture

If convicted, Horton faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud counts, up to 10 years on each embezzlement count, and up to five years on each tax fraud count. The government is also seeking $293,500 in forfeiture from the four defendants collectively and an additional $30,845.77 from Horton individually.³⁴

How DeKalb County Schools Responded

The day after the indictment became public, on October 9, 2025, the DeKalb County Board of Education held an emergency meeting, placed Horton on paid administrative leave, and named Dr. Norman C. Sauce III, the district’s chief of student services, as acting superintendent.⁶

Six days later, on October 15, the board held another emergency meeting and voted, with at least one member dissenting, to accept Horton’s resignation effective November 15, 2025. Board Chairwoman Deirdre Pierce said the board recognized “the seriousness of the situation” and remained committed to “transparency, accountability and maintaining public trust.”⁷ The separation agreement was framed as a mutual, voluntary resolution. Horton was paid through November 15, 2025, and received nothing beyond that, which spared the district a formal termination process requiring a due-process hearing under Georgia law.⁸

Sauce formally became interim superintendent on November 16, 2025, under a one-year contract at $325,000. If the board does not elevate him to the permanent job when the contract expires in November 2026, he may return to his prior role.⁹

The board also voted unanimously to solicit proposals for a forensic audit of district contracts and procurement card transactions originating from the former superintendent’s office. That audit was still underway in April 2026.¹⁰¹¹

Records obtained after Horton’s departure showed he had attended at least 23 conferences and spent 73 days away from the district during his roughly two-year tenure, with the district paying more than $34,000 in taxpayer funds for his travel. One line item was at least $6,421 for a superintendent roundtable cocktail reception at the Glenn Hotel in Atlanta during a National Alliance of Black School Educators conference. Board Chair Allyson Gevertz said Horton’s travel had been “conducted in accordance with district policy and oversight.”¹¹

The Georgia Domestic Violence Arrest

On January 17, 2026, Horton was arrested at his DeKalb County home on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation and third-degree cruelty to children. An arrest warrant described an argument that escalated after he slammed a door. His wife alleged he placed his hand on her neck and that she felt as though she would faint. A five-year-old child in the home was reported as having witnessed the incident.¹²

Two days later, Judge S. Derek Johnson-Gage granted a $25,000 bond over the objection of the DeKalb District Attorney’s office. The conditions prohibited in-person contact with his wife, required him to surrender any firearms, and barred him from buying new ones.¹³ The Georgia case remains pending and is separate from the federal proceedings in Illinois.²

Where the Federal Case Stands

All four defendants pleaded not guilty at their arraignment in October 2025, and Horton has denied the charges in court filings.¹⁴ A three-week jury trial is scheduled to begin on October 21, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois.²

How He Was Hired in DeKalb

The DeKalb County Board of Education voted 6-1 in 2023 to hire Horton for the roughly 92,000-student district at a starting salary of $325,000. Dr. Joyce Morley cast the sole dissenting vote.¹⁵¹⁶

The vote came over several warnings. Georgia’s State Superintendent Richard Woods had asked the board to pause the search. Morley publicly questioned whether Horton could run a district more than ten times the size of his Illinois district. Community members raised concerns at public forums about a 2021 federal lawsuit from District 65 accusing officials of promoting “race-based programming.” And in March 2023, roughly a month before the hiring vote, investigative journalist Tom Hayden published a report alleging Horton had steered no-bid contracts to specific companies during his Illinois tenure. In his first week on the job, Horton moved to hire five new central-office staff, one of whom, Antonio Ross, is now a co-defendant in the federal indictment.¹⁵

In December 2024, Horton received a $35,000 retention bonus. In July 2025, the board voted 4-3 to approve a $35,000 annual raise, bringing his base salary to $360,000, and in a related 6-1 vote extended his contract through June 30, 2028. Pierce said the decisions reflected “the multi-levels of progress made in our school district in 2025, and the very positive scores he received on our Superintendent’s Annual Evaluation.” Less than three months later, Horton was indicted.¹⁷

1
Evanston Now. Details of the Charges Against Devon Horton
2
Fox 5 Atlanta. Trial Date Set for Former DeKalb School Superintendent Devon Horton
3
Evanston Roundtable. District 65 Responds to Superintendent Indictment
4
Evanston Roundtable. Former District 65 Superintendent Horton Indicted
5
Chicago Sun-Times. Ex-Superintendent of Evanston-Skokie School District 65 at Center of Federal Corruption Indictment
6
WABE. DeKalb Schools Superintendent Horton Indicted in Illinois
7
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. DeKalb Schools Superintendent Resigns After Indictment for Financial Crimes
8
DeKalb County School District. Board of Education FAQs
9
Rough Draft Atlanta. Norman Sauce Contract Details
10
Rough Draft Atlanta. DeKalb Schools Board Meeting
11
Atlanta News First. DeKalb Superintendent Travel Costs Draw Scrutiny After Horton’s Federal Indictment
12
Decaturish. Former DeKalb Superintendent Arrested on Assault Charges
13
Decaturish. Ex-DeKalb Superintendent Granted Bond on Assault Charge
14
Evanston Roundtable. Trial Date in Former District 65 Chief Kickback Case to Be Set in February
15
Atlanta News First. Two Years After His Controversial Hiring, DeKalb County Superintendent Facing Federal Indictment
16
Atlanta News First. DeKalb County School District’s Superintendent Facing Federal Charges Illinois
17
Decaturish. DeKalb Schools Superintendent Gets Raise, Contract Extension