Quintin Wiggins, the former chief financial officer at Texas Southern University, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for misusing $286,000 in university money, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Wiggins steered the money into secret accounts used by the university’s former president, Priscilla D. Slade, to buy furniture, landscaping, and a security system for her home.
He was convicted last week of one count of misapplication of fiduciary property over $200,000, and could have received a sentence as lenient as five years of probation or as severe as life in prison.
The trial was a preview of Ms. Slade’s trial, which is to begin on August 10, and comes at a time of financial upheaval at the university. All nine members of the Board of Regents have recently resigned in response to demands by Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican. Governor Perry wants to appoint a conservator to run the university, which is seeking a major financial bailout from the state. —Paul Fain
