Probe into former Pontiac school district official

PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) - The federal government has seized property and cash from a former Pontiac School district official who lost his job last year under a cloud of suspicion.

A vintage sports car and a bank account were the targets of FBI agents, but so far, no formal charges have been filed against Dr. Jumanne Sledge.

Sledge is one of a dozen people targeted  in a long running federal probe into financial misconduct in the Pontiac School System. Four weeks ago, the FBI went to a local credit union and took more than $34,600 out of the account of Dr. Jumanne Sledge, then seized his 2002 Jaguar XK8. Seizing assets is expected to be just the beginning, in an effort to recover millions of unaccounted for dollars taken from the Pontiac school system.

Dr. Jumanne Sledge had only worked for the Pontiac school system for two years, as an associate superintendent for organizational development and human resources.  A close review of personnel pay by this man, interim superintendent Jonathan Brown, revealed irregularities in Sledge’s compensation.  There were one time payouts of tens of thousands of dollars that no one had authorized.

When it was clear an investigation was about to lead to his termination, Sledge went to friends in the Inkster school district, and took a new assistant superintendent position, before he was fired from Pontiac schools. In a recent telephone interview, I asked the current superintendent, Walter Burt, if Sledge had resigned. His answer was short and to the point.

“Yes he did,” said Walter Burt.

Sledge has not  been charged with a crime. Action news investigators found Dr. Jumanne Sledge on his new job, in another school district a few weeks back, but were unable to contact him today. There’s much more to this story that covers years of unauthorized cash flowing out the door of Pontiac Schools administration building. Tonight at 11, a closer look at Dr. Jumanne Sledge: what he’s doing now, and why tax payers should be concerned.