Former Florida A & M University officials Eugene Telfair and Robert Nixon are scheduled for sentencing in federal court in Tallahassee on Thursday for embezzling from the FAMU Credit Union.
Telfair, former president of FAMU’s Federal Credit Union, and Nixon, former head of FAMU’s Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce, were indicted on July 7 and each could face 70 years in prison.
The three-count indictment charged the two men with conspiracy, theft from an organization receiving federal funds and embezzlement of funds entrusted to a federally insured credit union. The jurors found Telfair and Nixon guilty of all charges after nearly five hours of deliberation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rhew-Miller. The defendants were accused of conspiring to steal approximately $134,000 in federal grant money. The funds were granted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help jump start local small businesses. Records showed withdrawals corresponding with every deposit to a micro loan account during a period between 2002 and 2008. These withdrawals were then deposited inTelfair’s personal account.