‘I lied to the children ... the parents’ of Macon, ex-superintendent says at bribe trial

On the witness stand here Monday in the federal money-laundering and bribery trial of two former associates, Romain Dallemand, the controversial ex-superintendent of Bibb County’s public schools, spoke words that approached a public apology.

Dallemand’s more-or-less mea culpa emerged in what was his third day of testimony at the trial of Macon businessman Cliffard D. Whitby and north Florida attorney Harold M. Knowles.

Early in his six hours under cross-examination by defense lawyers, Dallemand was asked how his story to federal investigators changed after they approached him in December 2016. He had at first said that tens of thousands of dollars of income, which he hadn’t reported on a tax return, had come to him as “investments.”

Earlier in 2016, Dallemand, the Bibb County superintendent from 2011 until 2013, had come under the scrutiny of authorities who were examining his business dealings related to the school system in the wake of his tumultuous departure.

“I wanted to tell the truth,” Dallemand said of his eventual fessing up.

He said he regretted lying to his wife and kids about his alleged scheming with Whitby and Knowles, telling his family at the time that he was “networking.”

Dallemand, 50, said he also regrets how his dubious dealings affected locals and how he, in essence, pulled the wool over the public’s eyes.

“There were some (school) board members in this district who would do anything for me. I lied to them,” Dallemand told Whitby defense attorney Bruce H. Morris, who had asked about Dallemand’s initially-misleading remarks to the FBI and IRS.

“I lied to the children. I lied to the parents of this community,” Dallemand added. “So I am not here to say that I am not a liar. What I’m saying is that I am here to tell the truth for what happened.”

The trial, which began with jury selection Sept. 24, will almost certainly stretch into next week. Cross-examinations of Dallemand could take another day or so, not long after which prosecutors are expected to rest their case.

Prosecutors say Dallemand was paid nearly half a million in kickbacks from Knowles and Whitby in exchange for Dallemand’s influence that would prove profitable to Knowles’ and Whitby’s business ventures with the school system.

Toward the end of prosecutor Elizabeth S. Howard’s direct examination of Dallemand on Monday morning, Dallemand spoke of how the alleged scam he is said to have helped to further resulted in his personal and professional downfall. He has since worked at Sears and driven for Uber.

Dallemand said he “worked very hard” to earn his educational credentials, including four degrees, and to fashion an “exceptional career.”

“I threw it all away,” Dallemand said. “I made what was a horrible mistake by being a part of something that was very shameful.”

Later under cross-examination by Morris, who specializes in white-collar-criminal defense, Dallemand was reminded of how he first told the feds that $100,000 Whitby supposedly sent Dallemand was for an educational plan in Dallemand’s homeland of Haiti.

Dallemand’s recollections and explanations of the alleged bribery scheme’s inner workings are the focal point of the government’s case, and his believability will no doubt be important for jurors to consider.

“We are here because of what your memory is supposed to be,” Morris said to Dallemand, who at one point admitted that he has “vacillated” at times.

And on Monday, Whitby’s defense team seized on that. They repeatedly asked Dallemand about how his stories changed, and for the most part Dallemand appeared unfazed by the grilling.

Though he himself is not on trial or criminally charged in the alleged bribe conspiracy — Dallemand pleaded guilty to a tax charge in exchange for his testmony against Whitby and Knowles — he at times sounded almost dutiful in admitting his role in it.

“I’m not going to continue to lie and mask ... this terrible thing,” Dallemand said, explaining why he agreed with investigators to wear a recording device to a meeting with Whitby at a south Georgia Denny’s restaurant in April of last year.

“Nobody talked to me about what to say and what not to say” to Whitby at the restaurant meeting, Dallemand said.

Another defense attorney in the case, Seth D. Kirschenbaum, who represents Positiventures Initiative LLC, a company with ties to Whitby that is also implicated in the case, later asked Dallemand something that struck at the heart of the defense teams’ angle of attack.

“How,” Kirschenbaum asked, “can we know when you’re lying, Dr. Dallemand?”

Dallemand said, in essence, that he has come now to tell the truth.

He said that he and Whitby were friends, but they were involved in ”a very undesirable act. ... It took me a long time, but I reached a point where I am now at peace with myself.”

One of Knowles’ defense lawyers began his cross-examination late in the proceedings on Monday.

Testimony resumes Tuesday at 8 a.m.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 4:21 PM.