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Conyers woman sentenced in bribery case
Edna Goble
Edna Goble

A Conyers woman who pled guilty to bribing a former Greenville, Miss. superintendent was sentenced in federal court to two and a half years in prison - a stiffer sentence than the six month house arrest originally recommended by prosecutors and rejected by the judge.

Edna Goble, owner of the Teach Them To Read company out of Conyers, was also sentenced to three years probation after her prison time and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Education, according to the Associated Press.

Northern Mississippi U.S. District Court Chief Judge Michael Mills rejected in the spring a recommendation from prosecutors of a six-month house arrest for Goble.

Goble had entered a guilty plea to one count last fall.

She had originally been charged with 10 counts.

Those counts were for allegedly paying bribes to former Greenville Public Schools superintendent Harvey Franklin in exchange for influencing the school board to use her EDNA reading program and a consulting contract to the tune of $1.4 million, according to reports in the Delta Democrat Times and Associated Press. She allegedly received more than $47,000 in kickbacks.

Franklin, a former Walton County assistant superintendent, pleaded guilty to three counts, including conspiracy and embezzling, in August 2012.

He's serving more than six years in prison; the maximum possible sentence was 25 years in prison.

Goble paid $36,000 on Franklin's truck loan, $9,400 on his home improvements and $1,900 on his American Express bill with cashier's checks bought through her company, according to previous reports. Goble also paid for tuition for Franklin's children at Drexel University and Tulane University, according to the Associated Press. The payments were reportedly made between May 2010 and May 2011.

Goble, a former Lake Capri subdivision resident, worked for Rockdale County Public Schools from 1978-1990.