​Former Northville Schools Admin Pleads Guilty To Obstructing

NORTHVILLE, MI — A former Northville Public Schools assistant superintendent has pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation.

Deanna Barash, 46, of Auburn Hills, is convicted of obstructing a federal grand jury investigation — a 10-year felony. She is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 25.

“Safeguarding the integrity of our public schools’ expenditures is of the utmost importance," Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin said. "We will continue to work with school systems when there are concerns of corruption or fraud related to the disbursement of their funds. Today’s guilty plea underscores our office’s commitment to hold people accountable for interfering with these and other federal investigations.”

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office began investigating the case after learning that Barash, then the Assistant Superintendent of Northville Public Schools, approved a contract for the district to purchase educational materials from a third party without disclosing that she had a financial relationship with this party, attorneys said.

After Barash left Northville Public Schools, school officials learned about the contract and made Barash aware that they were reporting her actions to authorities, attorneys said. Barash then deleted emails between herself and the third party from her private email account, according to attorneys.

Barash lied to federal investigators about her actions in an interview, attorneys said, originally claiming that she deleted the messages only as part of her regular routine, but later admitted she deleted the messages because she learned she was under investigation and was attempting to keep investigators from seeing them.

“Deanna Barash used her position as the assistant superintendent of Northville Public Schools for her own financial gain, and then attempted to avoid accountability by destroying evidence of her wrongdoing,” said Timothy Waters, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “The FBI is committed to preserving the public’s confidence in government at every level and will hold accountable any public official who undermines that confidence.”