Nelson sentenced in Oberon School Board theft case

“She ripped off the school district and you were an accomplice to it.”

Those pointed words from District Court Judge, Donovan Foughty, were directed at Carolyn Nelson during a sentencing hearing in Devils Lake on Friday, Jan. 27.

Nelson, a former elected member of the Oberon School Board, had been found guilty of conspiring with Laura Schnieber-Bruns (LSB) to steal over $150,000 from the Oberon School District in 2019 and 2020.

Schnieber-Bruns, who was accused of fraudulently representing herself and her business as having accounting expertise and appropriate credentials, had already pleaded guilty on an Alford basis more than a year ago. Nelson, however, decided to fight her charges in court.

The charges were filed after the Oberon School Board hired a sales firm by the name of Victim, Survivor, the Voice, LLC, owned by Laura Schnieber-Bruns. In addition to not having appropriate credentials, the firm was not in good standing with the N.D. Secretary of State’s office.

During Nelson’s trial on December 7 - 8, 2022, the prosecution argued that Schnieber-Bruns was aided and abetted by Nelson.

The prosecution said Nelson convinced her fellow board members to hire Schnieber-Bruns, and that the two women then worked together to ensure the “gravy train of the Oberon Public School” continued to line their pockets.

“The defendant (Carolyn Nelson) presented LSB to the Oberon School Board at a time when there was turmoil with the current Superintendent/Principal Lane Azure,” court documents state.

“The ruse to bring LSB into the school system was under the false pretenses of getting rid of Lane Azure. The reality was Lane Azure had already submitted his resignation and was not physically present at the school … .”

The prosecution goes on to state that Schnieber-Bruns had none of the necessary credentials necessary to be working in a school setting. She was not an accountant, had no background as a school administrator, and didn’t even have the credentials to be a teacher or paraprofessional.

Regardless, Schnieber-Bruns effectively became the school’s new administrator, the prosecution argued, and had regular access to financial records, personnel records and student records.

All totaled, more than $150,000 was doled out to Schnieber-Bruns, as she essentially became the school’s unofficial superintendent. The prosecution stated that she’d also been managing teachers, installing cameras and keeping tabs on day-to-day happenings within the school.

The prosecution argued, “The defendant needed to find some reason to ‘engage’ LSB in the school operations in order to keep the ‘money train’ flowing to LSB.

“For several months LSB would submit hourly billings and the defendant would summarily approve the same. There was absolutely no accountability expected nor requested by the defendant. Rather huge sums of money paid out to LSB.”

During her testimony, Nelson admitted that she’d been receiving money from Schnieber-Bruns, which the prosecution argued were kickbacks, and illustrated how both individuals were allegedly making money from the fraud.

The defense argued that Nelson never understood the money she received from Schnieber-Bruns as kickbacks.

“In fact, Nelson characterized the money given to her as either gifts in some cases intended to be spent on the community she supports, or as loans that she testified that she paid back to LSB,” the defense argued.

The prosecution could only prove that one or two thousand dollars were exchanged from Schnieber-Bruns to Nelson, though at the Jan. 27 sentencing hearing, they alluded to the potential that more money was exchanged, just that it couldn’t be proven.

The defense also contested that not enough evidence was put forth that proved Nelson knowingly directed Schnieber-Bruns to engage in the theft.

“At trial, the State offered six witnesses that were intended to establish Nelson’s knowledge of an aid in the Theft of Property committed by LSB,” the defense stated. “... However, there was no testimony given that directly established a common plan to commit the Theft by Deception, nor establishing that Nelson had control over LSB to direct her in the Theft by Deception.”

Yet, in his order finding the defendant guilty, Judge Foughty states, “But for the actions of Ms. Nelson, the theft by Laura Schnieber-Bruns could not have taken place.”

Back when the alleged fraud was first uncovered, the entire school board was suspended by Gov. Doug Bergum and were later charged. Two of those board members, Jacob Hegland and Karen Peterson, had their charges dropped soon after.

Another board member, Corey Ploium, was found guilty of failing to disclose a conflict of interest with Schneiber-Bruns. He was found not guilty of misapplication of entrusted property and giving false information to law enforcement.

For her role in the deception, Schnieber-Bruns faced three felony theft charges, to which she pleaded guilty on an Alford basis on Oct. 5, 2021. She was sentenced to 300 days of home confinement, three years of supervised probation, and was ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution.

Judge Foughty handed Nelson a virtually identical sentence at the hearing on Jan. 27: 300 days of home confinement, three years of supervised probation, and ordered to pay restitution “joint and several” with that of Schnieber-Brun’s.

Also at the Jan. 27 hearing, the court was made aware that Nelson intends to appeal the ruling based on ineffective representation of council.