FAMU students accused of fraud

Following a year long inves-tigation into illegal grade changes, three Florida A&M University students were in-dicted on federal charges af-ter being accused of gaining unauthorized access to FAMU computer records.
Marcus Barrington, 23, Christopher Jacquette, 27, and Lawrence Secrease, 22, were charged with five counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, unauthorized com-puter access, and aggravated identity theft.
In the indictment announced by Thomas F. Kirwin, U.S. Attorney for Florida’s northern district, allegations were made against the three men, stating they attempted to alter grades and residency statuses in the FAMU People Soft computer system. 

The indictment alleged that Secrease, along with Barrington and Jaquette, had an effect on the grades of 90 students at FAMU and 650 total grades from June to December 2007. Most of these students had failing grades changed into “A” grades, giving them the opportunity to receive thousands of dollars in grants, scholarships, and loans that they would not have received otherwise. 


Thousands of dollars were also taken off the tuition of some out-of state students, when their residency statuses were changed to in-state.
In order to make these alterations, the indictment stated that the three individuals accessed the FAMU computer system by installing “keystroke loggers” onto computers in the registrar’s office. This helped them obtain passwords and usernames of the employees in the office. 

After FAMU caught on to the conspiracy and reversed the changes, similar changes were made to grades and residency statuses a second time. The university has been investigating the matter since November 2007. 


Secrease, one of the accused, said he is not guilty of any of the alleged crimes. Instead, the Houston native said he surrounded himself with the wrong people, and has since distanced himself.