A U.S. federal court has sentenced Nigerian-born education professor Nkechy Ezeh to 70 months in prison for diverting $1.4 million in funds meant for low-income preschool children.
Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou also imposed a concurrent 60-month sentence for tax evasion. Ezeh was ordered to repay $1.4 million to victims and $390,174 to the Internal Revenue Service. She was taken into custody immediately after sentencing on May 14, 2026.
Prosecutors said Ezeh, former executive of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative in Michigan, misused taxpayer and donor funds intended for meals, transportation, and other services for children in underserved communities.
During sentencing, Judge Jarbou called the scheme “brazen and widespread” and described Ezeh as “a fraud and a thief.”
U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said Ezeh “stole taxpayer and private-donor dollars meant for low-income children in our community” and spent the money on personal expenses, including travel to Hawaii, Europe, and Africa, and a family wedding. Prosecutors also said she placed relatives on a ghost payroll and used money mules to send funds to Nigeria.
The fraud led to the shutdown of ELNC in 2023, ending services for vulnerable children and resulting in 35 layoffs.
Ezeh, once named West Michigan Woman of the Year in 2018, had served on Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation Executive Committee and held a tenured professorship in education.
Her former bookkeeper, Sharon Killebrew, was sentenced to 54 months in prison in November 2025 for her role in the scheme.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and IRS Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Stiffler.
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