COLUMBIA, SC (Press Release) – United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated Friday that a jury convicted Benita Dinkins-Robinson, age 40, of Bishopville, South Carolina, after a ten day trial in federal court.
Dinkins-Robinson was convicted of two counts of embezzling government funds. United States Chief District Judge Terry Wooten of Columbia presided over the trial. He will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Attorneys presented evidence at the trial and during the asset forfeiture phase of the case that from 2007 to 2013, Dinkins-Robinson embezzled more than a million dollars in federal funds supplied by United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Education that were intended to be used for the Mary L. Dinkins Higher Learning Academy, a charter school Dinkins-Robinson established in 2005.
The jury also determined that Dinkins-Robinson must forfeit over $750,000 in annuities that she purchased while serving as the Executive Director of the charter school as well as her share in a Camden house that she owned.
Mr. Nettles stated that Dinkins-Robinson faces a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment for each count.
The conviction was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Winston Holliday and Ben Garner of the Columbia office handled the case.