Peterson’s brother, Rolando, was ordered to pay $8,829 restitution, which is the amount he pleaded guilty to stealing from the school.
Among those still facing charges are Peterson’s wife Diana — partner in some of the businesses — and Dennis Stewart, former owner of Dayton’s Walnut Hills bar and a partner with Peterson in businesses that allegedly received more than $300,000 from the school.
Those businesses were based in Dayton, according to state business filings.
One was called Educational Management Alliance, and was 51 percent owned by Peterson and 49 percent owned by Stewart, according to the criminal indictment, which said EMA received 33 checks totaling $333,116 from CASTLE without proper documentation of what was provided. The other was called Kids 2000, and was owned by the Petersons with Stewart serving as executive director, the indictment said.
Charges including theft and money laundering are still headed to trial for Stewart and Diana Peterson, as well as fellow Dayton resident Dale Qualls of Qualls Auto Center, who is accused of giving Peterson a kickback for buying a school bus. All three pleaded not guilty, as well as several others from across the state.
Stewart could not be reached for comment. His professional LinkedIn page says he “has been a leader, youth advocate and coach in the fields of education, drug and alcohol counseling, conflict intervention and executive and board development” for 20 years.
Stewart’s court-appointed attorney, Richard Drucker, said he can’t speak for anyone else, but that Stewart’s companies “were completely legitimate.”
“He’s not guilty of any crimes,” he said. “Mr. Stewart committed no acts of theft or fraud either on his own behalf or while employed by any company.”
Stewart’s LinkedIn account says as executive director of EMA since 2005, he helped create best management practices for charter schools and other youth-related non-profits. Prior to that, it says he was CEO of Partnership for Youth in Dayton.
It says he was also executive director of Darke County Recovery Services, and involved in two now-defunct Dayton-area charter schools with which Peterson was also involved.
He is listed as the self-employed CEO of Partnership for Success.
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