DOJ 2025-03-03: Parents of Former Boone County Schools Maintenance Director Plead Guilty to Evading Financial Reporting Requirements

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, dated March 3, 2025, announcing that Michael P. Barker, 68, and Lana Barker, 66, both of Foster, pleaded guilty to structuring transactions with one or more domestic financial institutions. According to the release, from on or about November 7, 2023 through on or about November 28, 2023 the Barkers made 11 cash deposits totaling $97,215, designed to avoid currency reporting requirements. It states that they used that money, a $30,000 bank loan and $50,000 from their son, former maintenance director Michael David Barker, to buy property in Foster. Sentencing was set for June 23, 2025 and July 1, 2025; the cases are Case Nos. 2:25-cr-4 and 2:25-cr-5.

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“DOJ 2025-03-03: Parents of Former Boone County Schools Maintenance Director Plead Guilty to Evading Financial Reporting Requirements.” Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/doj-2025-03-03-parents-of-former-boone-county-schools-maintenance-dire-51973556c1/, SHA-256 66d441f9994fae87d42e10d673bca86f4d1611ad16ff9158695eb652e0ae9730.

Full text

Title: Parents of Former Boone County Schools Maintenance Director Plead Guilty to Evading Financial Reporting Requirements
Date: 2025-03-03
URL: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/parents-former-boone-county-schools-maintenance-director-plead-guilty-evading
Component: USAO - West Virginia, Southern
Text as published in the justice.gov press-release API record (https://www.justice.gov/api/v1/press_releases.json?title=Parents+of+Former+Boone+County+Schools&pagesize=50&fields=title%2Curl%2Cdate%2Cbody%2Cuuid%2Ccomponent%2Cnumber%2Cchanged%2Ccreated), retrieved 2026-09-30T11:25:27Z:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Michael P. Barker, 68, and Lana Barker, 66, both of Foster, pleaded guilty today to structuring transactions with one or more domestic financial institutions.
 According to court documents and statements made in court, starting on or about November 7, 2023, through on or about November 28, 2023, the Barkers made or caused to be made 11 cash deposits to their bank accounts in amounts ranging from $8,000 to $9,500 and totaling $97,215. The Barkers admitted that these transactions were specifically designed to avoid currency reporting requirements. Financial institutions are required to report cash deposits of more than $10,000, and federal law prohibits structuring multiple cash deposits to avoid this reporting requirement.
 The Barkers furthered admitted that they used the $97,215, a $30,000 bank loan, and $50,000 provided by their son, former Boone County Schools Maintenance Director Michael David Barker, to purchase property in Foster.
 Michael P. Barker is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2025, and Lana Barker is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, 2025. Each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and a forfeiture money judgment.
 Today’s guilty pleas result from an investigation that led to the indictment of Michael David Barker, 47, of Foster, by a federal grand jury on December 10, 2024. The 18-count indictment alleges that Michael David Barker entered into a scheme to defraud the Boone County Board of Education out of approximately $3,400,000 while serving as maintenance director. The charges against Michael David Barker are pending. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
 Jesse Marks, 65, of Rush, Kentucky, pleaded guilty on February 27, 2025, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Marks was the sole owner and operator of Rush Enterprises when Michael David Barker contacted him in November 2019 about Rush Enterprises selling custodial and janitorial supplies to Boone County Schools. Marks admitted that he and Barker entered into the overbilling scheme at that time. Marks is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, 2025.
 Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office (WVSAO) Public Integrity and Fraud Unit (PIFU), and the assistance provided by the West Virginia Department of Education.
 United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearings. Assistant United States Attorney Gabriel Price is prosecuting the cases.
 A copy of this press release is located on the website of the  U.S. Attorney’s Office  for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on  PACER  by searching for Case Nos. 2:25-cr-4 (Michael P. Barker) and 2:25-cr-5 (Lana Barker).
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