A judge presiding over the federal government’s case against former Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton for embezzlement and fraud gave attorneys 10 days to agree on and submit a trial date during a telephone hearing Thursday morning.
Horton and three others were federally indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Oct. 9. Horton was charged with 17 counts of embezzlement, wire fraud and tax fraud related to activities during his leadership of District 65. Horton pleaded not guilty to all charges in late October.
Horton left Evanston to become a superintendent in DeKalb County, Georgia in 2023. Less than a week following his indictment, the DeKalb County Board of Education accepted Horton’s resignation.
Prosecuting and defense attorneys were present at the virtual conference Thursday.
Horton’s attorney, Terence Campbell (Pritzker ’95), initially requested a trial date in mid-April of 2027. He said the request would give the defense counsels enough time to gather evidence, including information subpoenaed from third parties, while accounting for potential scheduling conflicts.
In response, District Judge Thomas Durkin said pushing the trial to next spring would create “an enormous number of problems,” for his schedule, adding it’s “not fair to anyone to keep this thing pending forever.”
Durkin suggested the trial, which attorneys estimate will take three to four weeks, be set for early fall, but also seemed open to dates in November and December.
He also requested a written status report if the attorneys cannot find a mutually agreeable trial date. A status call to confirm and formalize the trial date was set 30 days from Thursday, in early March.
Separately, Horton was arrested on Jan. 17 in Georgia on aggravated assault and cruelty to children charges. His arrest came after allegedly strangling his wife, Christiane Horton, in front of their two children.
At his wife’s urging, Horton was granted a $25,000 bond by a Georgia judge on Jan. 20, under the condition that he could not see her in-person and only visit their children under the supervision of a third party.
A trial date has yet to be set in Georgia.
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Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Former D65 Superintendent Devon Horton granted $25,000 bond on assault charges
— Trial date for Devon Horton embezzlement and fraud case to be set in February
