TALLAHASSEE, FL – A husband and wife team running a Florida teacher certification prep company are facing the consequences for a brazen scheme to steal and sell exam content. Kathleen M. Jasper, 43, and Jeremy M. Jasper, 41, both of Estero, Florida, were sentenced today to federal prison for racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. Kathleen Jasper received ten months behind bars plus six months of home confinement, while Jeremy Jasper will serve four months in prison, also followed by six months of home confinement.
The Jaspers, both certified Florida teachers themselves, ran NavaEd, LLC, a company offering tutoring and training to aspiring educators preparing for the crucial Florida Teacher Certification Exams (FTCE) and the Florida Educational Leadership Exam (FELE). But instead of legitimate preparation, they allegedly built their business on stolen material. Prosecutors say the couple, starting in January 2016, systematically pilfered content directly from the exams – and directed others to do the same – to include in their training materials, selling them worldwide through their website, Amazon, and Shopify.
The scheme was shockingly direct. According to court documents, the Jaspers repeatedly took the FTCE and FELE themselves, even after passing, simply to memorize as many questions as possible. When the Florida Department of Education barred them from further testing, they allegedly instructed NavaEd employees and independent contractors to take the exams, offering them a clear incentive: access to the answers. This created a network actively harvesting exam questions for profit, effectively undermining the integrity of the state’s teacher certification process.
“The defendants’ profiteering scheme is an insult to the dedicated public school teachers and administrators of Florida, who studied and worked hard to become certified in their professions,” fumed U.S. Attorney Jason R. Coody. “Floridians expect and deserve to know that the public schools to which they entrust their children to learn are being led by teachers and administrators who properly earned their certifications.” Coody added the sentence served as a reminder that “hard work and diligence are rewarded, but acts of theft and dishonesty…are to be punished.”
Reginald France, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office, echoed that sentiment, labeling the Jaspers as individuals who “knowingly and willfully preyed on the unsuspecting teachers who trusted them.” He described their actions as “bullying” employees into committing felonies to line their own pockets. The stolen content was then republished – often verbatim – in NavaEd’s training materials and disseminated through seminars and tutoring sessions.
Beyond the prison sentences, the court ordered both Kathleen and Jeremy Jasper to pay approximately $135,000 in restitution to the State of Florida Department of Education. A $690,879.96 forfeiture money judgment was also entered against them, and the court ordered the forfeiture of NavaEd. Following their imprisonment, both defendants will be subject to three years of supervised release. This case underscores a growing concern about the exploitation of professional certification processes for financial gain and the lengths to which some will go to profit from dishonesty.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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