Former Head of Arizona Students’ Association Going to Prison

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Nov. 7, 2006) Maceo T. Brown, former executive director of the Arizona Students’ Association, was sentenced today in Maricopa County Superior Court to one year in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation.

Brown, 32, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty to theft and forgery charges last month. According to court documents, he took about $140,000 from the Arizona Students’ Association to use for personal and family expenses between 2003 and 2006.

As executive director of ASA, Brown managed the organization’s daily operations and its finances. When Brown was asked about questionable expenditures, he e-mailed the ASA Board of Directors bank statements he had altered by deleting some entries and changing others to make it appear that the expenditures benefited the organization.

The Arizona Students’ Association is a not-for-profit advocacy organization that represents public university students. It is funded by a $1 fee assessed to each university student at every public university in Arizona.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James H. Keppel also ordered Brown to pay $139,926 in restitution. Brown has already paid $60,000 to the Arizona Students’ Association, and he was ordered to pay the remainder after his release from prison. This case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Special Investigations Section.