Ex-FGCU, Lee schools teachers sentenced in testing conspiracy, trade secrets theft case

A former FGCU instructor and her husband from Estero were sentenced to up to 10 months in prison Tuesday and ordered to pay more than $135,000 in restitution on conspiracy and theft charges.

Owners of a Florida teacher certification exam prep company, Kathleen M. Jasper, 42, and Jeremy M. Jasper, 40, pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court to multiple counts of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets.

Sentencing, on one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets, was Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee before Judge Allen C. Winsor.

In 2021: Estero owners of teacher exam prep company plead guilty to racketeering, conspiracy charges

And: Estero couple indicted, accused of operating teacher test-cheating scheme

The Jaspers will serve concurrent sentences on the two counts, but a year apart. Kathleen Jasper is to report to the Tallahassee U.S. Marshalls office by Feb. 28 while Jeremy Jasper has to report by Jan. 31, 2023.

Court documents said that Kathleen Jasper will serve 10 months in prison followed by six months home detention and three years supervised release. Jeremy Jasper will serve 4 months in prison followed six months home detention and three years supervised release.

Restitution will be $135,026 to Florida Department of Education.

The court also entered a $690,879.96 forfeiture money judgment against both defendants.

As part of the sentences imposed, the court ordered the forfeiture of the website the couple used (www.NavaEd.com), multiple electronic devices, and NavaEd publications relating to the FTCE and FELE.

The court dismissed 112 other counts via a prosecution motion.

“The defendants’ profiteering scheme is an insult to the dedicated public school teachers and administrators of Florida, who studied and worked hard to become certified in their professions,” said Jason R. Coody, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “Floridians expect and deserve to know that the public schools to which they entrust their children to learn are being led by teachers and administrators who properly earned their certifications. Today’s sentence reiterates a valuable, but basic lesson. Notably, that hard work and diligence are rewarded, but acts of theft and dishonesty, as demonstrated by these defendants, are to be punished.”

Attorney Stephen S. Dobson, who represented Jeremy Jasper, said the Jasper's realized and fully admitted they made mistakes.

"They accepted responsibility for their actions," Dobson said. "I think that the judge recognized that they were very good people who had made some bad mistakes."

Court documents claimed that since January 2016, the Jaspers, certified Florida teachers, stole content and conspired with others to steal content from the Florida Teacher Certification Exams and the Florida Educational Leadership Exam. They included the stolen content in the test preparation materials and services that were sold through their business.

Kathleen Jasper, on the company website, listed herself as the company founder; "I started the company in 2017 around the time I was working in the college of education at Florida Gulf Coast University."

The NavaEd website has been taken down and a new site, https://kathleenjasper.com/, set up. The new site's description of Kathleen Jasper's background is more generic, not listing specific schools.

A Facebook page for Kathleen Jasper is also active with lessons as recent as Jan. 18 available on video. The Facebook page Monday had a note: "We are out of the office Mon. & Tue. No math this week."

Biographical information on Jeremy Jasper listed him as vice president of Jasper Consulting.

Both Jaspers previously worked for the Lee County school district at Estero High School, where Kathleen served as assistant principal from 2012-14.

The couple previously entered not guilty pleas during their first appearance in December at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee and said they were innocent in a post shared to NavaEd's Facebook page.

By the way: Dozens of deputies lied, cheated and stole. This Florida sheriff hired them anyway.

NavaEd offered tutoring and training to prepare prospective Florida educators

NavaEd offered tutoring and training to prepare prospective Florida educators to pass the FTCE and the FELE. Passage of these exams are required for certification in Florida.

NavaEd offered training publications through its website and through third-party e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Shopify.

Court documents said the couple took the FTCE and FELE multiple times – after having already passed the exams – to see and memorize exam questions.

After being barred by the Florida Department of Education from taking more offerings of the FTCE and FELE, court documents said the Jaspers directed NavaEd employees and independent contractors to take the FTCE and FELE for the purpose of harvesting exam questions and answers.

“These so-called ‘educators’ knowingly and willfully preyed on the unsuspecting teachers who trusted them. The Jaspers bullied their employees into committing felonies in order to line their own pockets, and that is unacceptable,” said Reginald France, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office.

Kathleen Jasper, 42, was hired in August 2007 at Estero High School, where she worked as a reading and science teacher. She then joined the district office in June 2011 to work as a master teacher in the curriculum department, before returning to Estero in March 2012 as an assistant principal, district spokesman Rob Spicker reported.

She resigned due to personal reasons in February 2014.

Jeremy Jasper, 40, was hired in August 2010 at Estero High, where he worked as an Exceptional Student Education teacher. In 2015, he was named the school's "Family and Consumer Science" teacher.

He resigned for personal reasons in June 2018.

The Lee County school district began working with NavaEd during the 2017-18 school year, reports Angela Pruitt, the school system's chief of human resources. She said few resources were available to help people prepare for the state's certification tests at the time.

Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County couple ordered to pay $135,000 to state education department