Former financial aid director of Texas College indicted for student financial aid fraud

TYLER – A Shreveport, Louisiana, mother and son are among those indicted on federal charges in a fraud case involving Texas College. Angela Speech, 43; her son, Jeremy Marshall, 24; Devonaire Jones, 35; and Camyl Lewis, 24, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 16 and charged with multiple counts of student financial aid fraud. Speech and Marshall made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love on Dec. 7. According to the indictment, between August 2019 and February 2020, Speech was the director of financial aid at Texas College. Speech allegedly used her access to students’ financial aid accounts to trigger financial aid payments to Marshall, Jones, Lewis, and others that they were not entitled to or eligible to receive.

Altogether, according to authorities, Speech and these students, aided and abetted by each other and others, knowingly and willfully misapplied, stole, and obtained by fraud, false statement, and forgery funds, assets, and property provided and insured under the Pell Grant Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Programs, and other federal subsidized and unsubsidized loan programs. If convicted, the defendants each face up to five years in federal prison. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors, according to a news release.