Two former Mississippi school superintendents plead guilty to embezzlement 

• The superintendents worked in the Clarksdale, Leake County and Hollandale school districts.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Earl Joe Nelson of Biloxi, Mississippi and Monekea Smith-Taylor of St. Louis, Missouri appeared in Federal Court before District Judge Sharion Aycock in Aberdeen and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit embezzlement. 

According to the DOJ, on a previous court date in October 2025, Mario Willis of Southaven, Mississippi also pled guilty to the same conspiracy.

Court documents from July 2019 to May 2022 show that Nelson was the superintendent of Clarksdale Municipal School District and later became the superintendent of Leake County School District in October 2022.  

Willis was the superintendent of Hollandale School District while Smith-Taylor was a schoolteacher in the St. Louis area.

The DOJ said in the announcement that Nelson and Willis used their position as school superintendents to enter into reciprocal consulting contracts and generate reciprocal payments for consulting services at an inflated rate of payment and for consulting services that were not actually provided.

From November 2021 to June 2023, at the direction of Willis as superintendent, the Hollandale School District paid a total of approximately $94,400 to Ira Reed Consulting, Inc. and N17 Group, LLC for the personal benefit of Nelson.

From November 2021 to May 2022, at the direction of Nelson as superintendent, the Clarksdale Municipal School District paid a total of approximately $25,400 to K&S Enterprises, LLC and ALM Brothers, LLC for the personal benefit of Willis.  

From January 2023 to May 2023, at the direction of Nelson as superintendent, the Leake County School District paid a total of approximately $23,500 to K&S Enterprises, LLC for the personal benefit of Willis.

In addition to the conspiracy with Nelson, the DOJ said Willis used his position as school superintendent to generate payments to Erudition Consulting Company, a company owned and controlled by Smith-Taylor, for consulting services at an inflated rate of payment and for consulting services that were not actually provided. After receiving payment, Smith-Taylor would meet Nelson in person and provide him with a cash payment, often exactly half of what she had been paid by the Hollandale School District.  

From June 2021 to May 2023, at the direction of Willis as superintendent, the Hollandale School District paid approximately $250,902 to Erudition Consulting Company, LLC.

Nelson, Willis and Smith-Taylor now face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. District Judge Aycock will determine their sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General have been investigating the case.

“Thank you to the US Attorney’s Office for helping us bring this case to a close,” said State Auditor Shad White in a statement. “My office will continue to work with prosecutors to deliver record results for taxpayers.”