March 22, 2011 12:28 p.m.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/118442744.html

The head of a former Milwaukee voucher school has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and money laundering, according to federal court records.

Henry E. Tyler, 39, former executive administrator of L.E.A.D.E.R. Institute, acknowledged defrauding a government food program of $196,000, using part of the money for personal expenses such as jewelry and a visit to a Las Vegas strip club, records show.

L.E.A.D.E.R., 2200 N. King Drive, was kicked out of the city's school choice program in early 2006 by the state, which cited financial insolvency.

State officials said the school owed nearly $500,000 for improperly cashed checks, improperly claimed summer school payments, past payroll payments and other debts.

Tyler signed the plea agreement last week. No plea or sentencing hearing had been set as of Tuesday, according to online court records.

The mail fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the money laundering count 10 years. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Tyler will be more likely to face about a year in prison, according to the plea agreement.

Tyler was convicted of felony issuing worthless checks in 2002 in Dunn County. He entered into a differed prosecution agreement, which he satisfied and the charges were dismissed, according to online court records.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman will sentence Tyler. The government is expected to seek a restitution order against Tyler. An amount was not listed in the plea agreement.

The plea agreement says Tyler defrauded federal food programs over four months in 2006, billing for 372 students when enrollment was far lower, according to the indictment.

Tyler wrote checks to himself, his wife and to "cash" off the school's account for thousands of dollars during that time, the indictment says, prompting the money laundering count.

Tyler changed the school's bank account address from the school's location on N. King Drive to Tyler's apartment in Las Vegas in April 2006, it says. In May 2006, Tyler used a school credit card to buy an $865 gold necklace from a Las Vegas pawnshop and charge $250 at the Pussycats strip club, among other charges, the indictment says.

While L.E.A.D.E.R. was part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which allows low-income children to attend private schools on publicly funded vouchers, the state Department of Public Instruction issued payments to the school totaling more than $1 million over two years, according to state records.

The letters in the school's name stood for Learning Educational Assets Development and Educational Reform.