Woman convicted in "ghost-teacher" scam

The co-mastermind of a $274,000 "ghost-teacher" scam involving an adult basic-education (ABE) program at a West Philadelphia Islamic school was found guilty yesterday of 23 counts of conspiracy, fraud and other offenses.

Delores Weaver, former director of the ABE program at Community College of Philadelphia, is the last of five defendants to be convicted in the scam at Sister Clara Muhammad School, 47th Street and Wyalusing Avenue, between 1999-2001.

Jurors found Weaver not guilty on three mail-fraud counts.

Weaver's attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said he was disappointed in the verdict.

He said tape recordings introduced by the government at trial were "difficult to overcome. You can't cross-examine a tape recorder," he lamented.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Wzorek said the feds were pleased with the verdict.

"It took a while to get here, but the jury did the right thing," he said.

The jury of five women and seven men began deliberations around 11:30 a.m. Thursday and reached a verdict at 10:15 a.m. yesterday.

Jurors found that Weaver, 65, of Chestnut Hill, and Faridah Ali, former assistant director of the Islamic School, masterminded the conspiracy to steal public monies from a program to help adults learn to read, write and learn math held at the school.

One juror, Enrique, a nursing assistant from South Philadelphia who asked that his last name not be used, said the tapes, particularly of conversations between Ali and Weaver, were "overwhelming" evidence of Weaver's guilt.

"It's a shame a woman that educated would do something like this. If the school had been run the right way, the community would have benefited," he said.

The two women worked hand-in-hand to carry out the scheme, as each had control of the program at their respective schools, Wzorek said.

At the college, Weaver oversaw fraudulent student registrations,OK'd pay for "no-show" teachers, authorized $450 payments to rent classrooms for courses not held and warned Ali of surprise visits by monitors to the school.

At Sister Clara Muhammed School, Ali created phony resumes for teachers she put on the payroll who had no college credentials or knowledge of subjects they were to teach. Ali used the money to pay stipends to her own volunteer teachers of the K-12 program at Sister Clara Muhammed.

The jury found that both women put their three children on the payroll as "no-show" teachers and divided $21,600 in stolen rent money.

Weaver's son, Eugene Weaver III, received $47,000 for teaching nine ABE courses while he was in Peru or in California or while attending law-school classes.

Ali's daughter, Lakiha Spicer, collected $71,000 during 13 months she was living in a $2,500-a-month Manhattan apartment while looking for a job in the entertainment industry. Ali's son, Azheem Spicer, received $39,000 but failed to teach the eight classes that he reportedly had been assigned.

The tally for classes not taught by these and other "ghost teachers" was $224,375.

In 2004, Weaver's son, Ali, and Ali's daughter and son were convicted of multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Eugene Weaver and Azheem Spicer were both sentenced in 2005 to four years' probation.

Ali and Lakiha Spicer were resentenced on April 1 to prison terms of one year plus one day and six months, respectively, after a federal appeals panel found that their original sentences had been too lenient. They are to begin serving their sentences on May 1.

U.S. District Judge John P. Fullam set July 24 for Delores Weaver's sentencing. She faces 57 to 71 months in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines. *