School Superintendents Plead Guilty to Embezzlement Mississippi Office of the State Auditor

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Multiple Defendants Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Embezzlement

OXFORD, MS – Earl Joe Nelson of Biloxi, Mississippi and Monekea Smith-Taylor of St. Louis, Missouri appeared in Federal Court before District Judge Sharion Aycock in Aberdeen today and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit embezzlement. On a previous court date, in October 2025, Mario Willis of Southaven, Mississippi also pled guilty to the same conspiracy.

According to court documents, from July 2019 to May 2022, Nelson was the superintendent of Clarksdale Municipal School District. In October 2022, Nelson became the superintendent of Leake County School District. Mario Willis was the superintendent of Hollandale School District. Monekea Smith-Taylor was a schoolteacher in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

Nelson and Willis used their position as school superintendents to enter into reciprocal consulting contracts and generate reciprocal payments for consulting services at an inflated rate of payment and for consulting services that were not actually provided. From November 2021 to June 2023, at the direction of Mario Willis as superintendent, the Hollandale School District paid a total of approximately $94,400 to Ira Reed Consulting, Inc. and N17 Group, LLC for the personal benefit of Nelson.

From November 2021 to May 2022, at the direction of Nelson as superintendent, the Clarksdale Municipal School District paid a total of approximately $25,400 to K&S Enterprises, LLC and ALM Brothers, LLC for the personal benefit of Mario Willis. From January 2023 to May 2023, at the direction of Nelson as superintendent, the Leake County School District paid a total of approximately $23,500 to K&S Enterprises, LLC for the personal benefit of Mario Willis.

Many of the invoices used to justify these payments were identical with only the names changed. Nelson often used the same invoices generated by Willis, changed the names and sent them back to the Hollandale School District for payment to Nelson.

In addition to the conspiracy with Nelson, Willis used his position as school superintendent to generate payments to Erudition Consulting Company, a company owned and controlled by Monekea Smith-Taylor, for consulting services at an inflated rate of payment and for consulting services that were not actually provided. After receiving payment, Smith-Taylor would meet Nelson in person and provide him with a cash payment, often exactly half of what she had been paid by the Hollandale School District. From June 2021 to May 2023, at the direction of Mario Willis as superintendent, the Hollandale School District paid approximately $250,902 to Erudition Consulting Company, LLC.

Nelson, Willis and Smith-Taylor face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. District Judge Sharion Aycock will determine their sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“The protection and education of children goes to the very heart of who we are as a people,” said U.S. Attorney Scott F. Leary. “Those that violate this sacred trust will face the consequences of their actions. Always remember those law enforcement officers who spend their careers protecting the public and especially the children of this great state.”

“Today’s action shows that these former school leaders not only knowingly and willfully abused their positions of trust for personal gain but did so at the expense of the educational development of children. That is unacceptable," said Adam Shanedling, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Regional Office. “Deservedly, they will both be held accountable for cheating Mississippi students and taxpayers."

“Thank you to the US Attorney’s Office for helping us bring this case to a close,” said State Auditor Shad White. “My office will continue to work with prosecutors to deliver record results for taxpayers.”

The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clayton A. Dabbs is prosecuting the case.