Former Suburban Chicago School Board President Indicted Over $1.3 Million 'Commission' From COVID-Funded Air Purifier Purchase
A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted the former president of a suburban school board, alleging she steered a $2.7 million purchase of air purifiers, paid for with federal COVID relief money, while a company where she was chief financial officer collected a $1.3 million "commission" from the seller.
Annette Johnson, 63, of Aurora, Ill., led the East Aurora School District 131 Board of Education at the time and remains a board member, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said Thursday. The indictment was returned Tuesday.
What the Indictment Alleges
According to the 14-page indictment, which The Digital Free Press read, District 131 paid a reseller $2,700,188.62 for the air purifiers in November 2021 using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, money Congress set aside for schools during the pandemic. Prosecutors allege the reseller had agreed that more than $1 million of the sale would go to a company owned by a man the indictment describes as Johnson's romantic partner, where she worked as chief financial officer.
The indictment says the reseller's chief executive told district staff and the board that the reseller was a "sole source" provider of the purifiers. It says that after a Sept. 17, 2021, call titled "East Aurora School District 131 discussion," the executive sent Johnson the price quote and confirmed by email that the "margin" going to an affiliated company would be more than $1 million, and that hours before the board's Sept. 20 meeting he sent "key bullet points" to Johnson and no other district official.
The $1.3 million check, labeled "commission," was mailed on or about Nov. 5, 2021, two days after the district's check was deposited, prosecutors say. That is about 48 percent of what the district paid, by The Digital Free Press's calculation. The indictment says Johnson told the reseller to send the money and later filed an April 2022 statement of economic interests with Kane County that did not list the company as a source of income.
The School Board Votes
The indictment says Johnson spoke for and voted to approve the purchase on Sept. 20, 2021, and voted to approve the payment on Nov. 1, 2021, without telling the board she had a financial interest. It also says that on May 15, 2023, she voted to approve another $201,077 payment to the same reseller for annual service on the purifiers.
The indictment quotes district policies requiring board members to avoid "any conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety" and barring members with a conflict from taking part in contracts funded by federal awards. Board members also swear to "respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector" of district assets, it says.
The Charges
Johnson is charged with two counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud. Each count carries up to 20 years in prison. The indictment seeks forfeiture, including a money judgment of about $1.3 million. The investigation was conducted by the Education Department's Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Arraignment had not been scheduled as of Thursday.
The reseller, its chief executive and the company owner are not named or charged in the indictment. An indictment is an accusation, and Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Sources: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Federal Indictment Charges Former President of Suburban Chicago School District Board of Education" (Oct. 29, 2026): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-indictment-charges-former-president-suburban-chicago-school-district-board ; Indictment, United States v. Johnson, No. 1:26-cr-00559 (N.D. Ill.), filed Oct. 27, 2026: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1469286/dl?inline . Cover photo: East Aurora High School by MHanleyEA via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
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