Ex-school board association official Herman Wilks sentenced to 5 years in prison, ordered to pay $1 million restitution

March 17--A former Texas Association of School Boards official was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than a $1 million in restitution after he filed false workers compensation claims on behalf of a dummy company he created.

Herman G. Wilks, a former director with the association who was in charge of overseeing and administrating the claims, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of mail fraud in January and admitted to taking $514,400 from the organization through its risk management fund between April 2008 and March 2013.

In a sentencing hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks pointed to Wilks' bills and delivered choice words to him regarding his spending of the money on clothes, trips and fine hotels and cigars, said Wilks' lawyer, Bill White.

"The judge called him to task on the facts of the case," White said. Sparks "was unhappy, but ultimately he followed the advisory (sentencing) guidelines in place."

Court records filed in the Western District of Texas say Wilks, who lived in Pflugerville, submitted fake claims for medical implant devices and surgical procedures via Medco Implantable Supply, a company Wilks founded for the "sole purpose of carrying out his fraudulent scheme."

He had been out on bail and facing up 20 years in prison on each count. He will now be allowed to self report to prison as long as he continues to comply with the conditions of his supervised release, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

The association is a nonprofit group that serves and represents school districts, regional educational service centers, community colleges and tax appraisal districts statewide. The association's risk management fund provides coverage to members that include unemployment compensation claims, workers' compensation claims, auto, liability and property programs.

Wilks' had controlled the entire claimant pay process through the fund, federal officials have said. The judge ordered Wilks pay about $447,367 in restitution to TASB and $558,992.10 to Travelers Insurance, the insurer that covered part of the loss for the association, officials said Monday.

White said his client had been a smart, articulate and interesting man who had a lot of friends within the association and received high recommendations from his colleagues. The lawyer said no one could say for sure what led Wilks down the wrong path but that his client had a long struggle with alcohol.

"He was a very effective administrator who was being groomed for the top slot," White said. "I found him to be kind in many ways and accepting of what he had done, and he was ready to pay for it and move on with his life."

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