Former NCED CEO Jones Awaits Hearing On Unsealed Indictment
EL PASO — Robert “Bob” Jones,former CEOof the now-renamed National Center for the Employment of the Disabled, or NCED, wasarrested Tuesday andremains incustody pending a hearingon anindictment that was unsealedat the end of the business day onTuesday.
Bond for Jones wasset at $500,000 Tuesday afternoon. Joneswas arrestedon fraud charges relating to NCED.
Patrick Woods and Ernie Lopez, both of whom were also officials at NCED, were also arrested Tuesday. Judge David Brionesalso set bond for them on Tuesday afternoon.
The three remain in custodybecausea sealed indictment in addition to the onefor which the judge set bondwas not unsealed in time, Jones’ attorney Joe Spencer told ABC-7. A bond hearing on the now-unsealed indictment is set for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Spencer said.
Jones and Woodswere indicted twiceby a federal grand jury. A 37-count indictment was issued on October 9, 2008. A five-count indictment was issued on September 25, 2008. Lopez was only indicted on theon the September 25th indictment and has been released after posting bond.
According to a federal indictment released Tuesday, all three men face several charges “related to the embezzlement of millions of dollars in government program funds.”
Jones was the former CEO of the National Center for the Employment of the Disabled. After a federal investigation found the company violated rules regarding the employment of disabled people in 2006, Jones resigned.
According to the indictment, the three menschemedto lie to the Senate Committee for Purchase from the Blind and Severely Disabled and falsely claimed NCED was in compliance with the Javits Wagner-O’Day Act (JWOD).
The act requires that any employer receiving no-bid government contracts to have a workforce that consists of at least 75% disabled people.
NCED never employed sufficient numbers of blind or severely disabled workers to qualify for JWOD contracts, according to the indictment.
