A jury will begin deliberations Friday in the trial of a former Alabama Department of Education official accused of using her position to provide millions to the company that employed her husband.
Attorneys presented closing arguments Thursday in the ethics trial of Deann Stone and her husband, Dave Stone. She was director of federal programs at the Department of Education.
Prosecutors say she manipulated the awarding of federal stimulus grants to get $24 million to three school systems using her husband's employer, Information Transport Solutions, and then he received a $25,000 bonus.
Defense attorneys said the Lowndes, Coosa and Marengo county school systems would have won the grants with or without Deann Stone being involved, and she only gave her husband public information that others received as well.
