Five people have been charged in Texas, accused of organizing and participating in an illegal cheating scheme that certified more than 200 unqualified teachers and saw the plot’s “kingpin” rake in more than $1 million, prosecutors announced.
In the scheme, individuals would typically pay $2,500 to have a proxy take certification tests for them at two testing centers in Houston. The scandal involved bribing a testing proctor to allow test applicants and their proxy to switch places, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced in a press conference Monday.
Overall, more than 400 fraudulent exams were taken and over 200 teachers were falsely certified on a variety of exams and are now scattered across the state. The scheme was traced back to May 2020, during the Covid pandemic.
The plot was allegedly orchestrated by Vincent Grayson, 57, the head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School within the Houston Independent School District, prosecutors said.
He, along with Tywana Gilford Mason, 51; Nicholas Newton, 35; Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22; and LaShonda Roberts, 39, have been charged with two felony counts each of engaging in organized criminal activity.
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the grand jury indictments against the five.
How the scheme was exposed
In mid-2023, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education, became aware of “certain irregularities” at Houston’s Training and Education Center, known as HTEC, a location for candidates to take certification exams.
Investigators noticed a pattern: Numerous teacher certification candidates who previously failed certification exams would drive from faraway Texas cities to the Houston area to take an exam.
“Suddenly, they were passing the test with flying colors,” Mike Levine, a felony chief in the DA Office’s Public Corruption Division, told reporters.
Then a tip came in that exposed the cheating scheme.
A former coach applying to be a police officer in a different part of Texas “had an attack of conscience” and came forward, Ogg said.
The tip and ensuing investigation led authorities to an email address, a Zelle, a CashApp, a phone number and eventually to the identification of some of the defendants.
Investigators interviewed dozens of teachers — at least 20 of which cooperated and told “nearly identical version of events,” Levine said.
Bribed proctors, testing proxies and referrals
While teachers can be hired without certification, they have a certain time window to eventually get certified. There are also certain classroom positions, such as a teacher’s aid, that don’t require certification, but getting it is “an opportunity to triple their salary,” Levine said.
Under the scheme, TEA certification candidates would allegedly pay Grayson $2,500.
Grayson then allegedly bribed Gilford Mason, who was the certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center. He’d pay her about 20% of the $2,500 to allow the cheating, Levine said.
Grayson would instruct the candidate when and where to appear for the test.
“They would come, show ID, sign in and leave. A few minutes later, Nicolas Newton, the proxy tester, would sit in their seat, take and pass the test that they felt they could not,” Levine said. Newton is an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, according to the DA’s office.
Officials said Grayson made at least $1,090,000 from the scheme, and likely more in cash, which is harder to trace.
Gilford Mason was paid at least $125,000 by Grayson via more than 350 separate transactions on Zelle and CashApp.
Newton, the proxy test taker, was paid at least $188,000 from May of 2020 through February of 2024 for taking over 430 certification tests for teachers who paid for those services, officials said.
He was caught “red handed” in February 2024, and when he spoke to investigators “he gave essentially a full confession,” Levine said.
Roberts, an assistant principal at Yates High School in Houston ISD, is believed to have sent over 90 teachers into the scheme and personally sent over “$267,000 to Mr. Grayson, frequently profiting along the way,” officials said.
HTEC was shut down in mid 2023. But even then, Grayson continued the scheme at a new location called TACTIX, Levine said.
Wilhite, a young proctor at TACTIX, allegedly accepted cash bribes of $250 each time she let a testing candidate sign in, leave and let someone else test in their place, Levine said.
Ongoing investigation
Grayson and Roberts were arrested Monday and later released on bond. Newton was arrested Monday and is in custody in Harris County Jail. Booking information was not immediately available for Gilford Mason or Wilhite.
NBC News has reached out to an attorney for Grayson for comment. It’s not immediately clear if the other defendants have retained attorneys.
Brandon G. Leonard, an attorney for Roberts, told NBC News, “These accusations are simply unsubstantiated claims, and we will aggressively defend against these baseless charges. Ms. Roberts looks forward to her day in court, where we’re confident the truth will come to light.”
The investigation into the cheating scandal is ongoing, as Levine says accounts have not yet been seized.
Ogg said that the cheating teachers included at least “two sexual predators, who once falsely certified, had access through their employment to underage kids on campus and off.” One has been charged with indecency with a child and another with online solicitation, she said.
Officials are urging anyone with additional information to come forward.
TEA is looking over exam protocol and into any teachers who participated in the scheme.
“They are going to go over every teacher, I’m sure, and take whatever action they see fit if they believe someone fraudulently obtained a certification,” Levine said. NBC News has reached out to TEA for comment.
Houston ISD said its three employees arrested in the case — Grayson, Newton and Roberts — “will be receiving notifications relieving them of their duties effective immediately.”
The school district said it was made aware of the investigation into the cheating conspiracy shortly before the arrests were made, and that it is cooperating with TEA and state and local law enforcement.
“If it is determined that any teachers currently working in HISD participated in this scheme or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the District,” HISD Chief of Public Affairs and Communications, Alexandra Elizondo, said.
