Federal agents arrested the former leader of Dohn Community High School on Sept. 3 on charges he helped steal $8 million from the charter school.
Leando Ramone Davenport, 50, of Cincinnati, and business partner Jonathan Larry Ballew, 62, of Phoenix, face four counts of wire fraud and multiple counts of money laundering after a federal indictment was unsealed in Cincinnati. FBI agents arrested Davenport in Hamilton County that morning. Federal authorities in Arizona arrested Ballew the same day.
Dohn closed abruptly in March 2025, forcing students to find new schools with roughly a month left in the year.
Toshia Harris, a parent who had four children enrolled at Dohn when it shut down, told Fox 19 her son was about to graduate at the time. Her family is still struggling to locate transcripts.
"A lot of our children could have been success stories, but it was never because these people decided they was going to steal the money and go on about their business like these kids didn't matter," Harris said.
How the scheme worked
Prosecutors allege Davenport authorized more than $8 million in payments from Dohn to businesses controlled by Ballew between 2021 and 2024. Ballew then allegedly kicked back more than $4 million to entities Davenport controlled, according to the indictment.
Ballew operated at least four companies that billed Dohn for educational services, technology, staffing and construction. His educational services and staffing company submitted what prosecutors called "grossly inflated" invoices, collecting more than $5 million from the school.
More than $3 million of that was routed back to Davenport, prosecutors said.
In one example, Ballew's construction company billed Dohn approximately $1.4 million to convert a Gilbert Avenue property into a school facility. The work was never completed. Davenport allegedly received about $350,000 in kickbacks from that project alone.
Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Miami rental
U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace II said at a Sept. 3 press conference that the defendants used the school as "their own personal piggy bank."
Prosecutors allege Davenport bought a 2021 Rolls-Royce for $149,990 and Ballew bought a 2022 Bentley Continental for $67,222 with scheme proceeds. In October 2023, the two signed a 24-month lease on a luxury Miami vacation property at $30,000 per month, paid largely from Ballew's company account.
The indictment also alleges Davenport misrepresented enrollment numbers. Dohn received state funding for roughly 1,600 students but actually enrolled about 600, according to prosecutors. Ohio Department of Education and Workforce data shows Dohn claimed 1,676 students in 2023-2024, WVXU reported. By 2024-2025, enrollment had dropped to 355.
What triggered the investigation
The Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, Dohn's nonprofit sponsor, emailed the Ohio Auditor's office in June 2024 flagging "outrageous spending" and warning that $4.2 million in taxpayer money was at stake. During site visits, the sponsor's staff did not observe construction or major improvements at Dohn's locations.
Davenport was fired as superintendent in September 2024. Court filings described the school's cash balance as "dangerously low" around that time.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said at the Sept. 3 press conference that the state investigation will continue to determine whether others were involved and what safeguards are needed.
Wire fraud carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Money laundering carries up to 10 years. No responses from defense attorneys for either defendant appeared in public records as of the indictment's unsealing. The case is pending in federal court in Cincinnati.
