One A3 charter school defendant pleads guilty to conspiracy - The San Diego Union-Tribune

One A3 charter school defendant pleads guilty to conspiracy - The San Diego Union-Tribune

One A3 charter school defendant pleads guilty to conspiracy

Prosecutors alleged that defendant Troy Kukahiko bought names of students to falsely enroll them in an A3 charter school

By KRISTEN TAKETA

One of 11 people indicted for the alleged A3 charter school scheme has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a crime.
The defendant, Troy Kukahiko from Hawaii, is now scheduled to be sentenced on May 4.
Prosecutors alleged that Kukahiko and his wife, Kalehua Kukahiko, arranged to pay youth organizations and sports teams for the personal information of students so the students could be signed up for A3’s Valiant charter school, thus inflating Valiant’s enrollment. Kalehua Kukahiko pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said that students were enrolled in Valiant often without their parents’ knowledge. The more students Valiant enrolled, the more state funding it received.
Troy Kukahiko’s lawyer, John Christl, declined to comment, saying his client wishes to have privacy.
The Kuhahikos and nine other defendants were indicted in May in connection with a network of 19 California charter schools run by leaders of A3 Education.
All the other A3 defendants — besides Troy Kukahiko and CEO Sean McManus, the man accused of orchestrating the alleged A3 scheme — have pleaded not guilty.
McManus has been at large since the indictment. Prosecutors said in May that he was CONTINUE READING: One A3 charter school defendant pleads guilty to conspiracy - The San Diego Union-Tribune