Jesse Marks, a 65-year-old resident of Rush, Kentucky, was sentenced on November 13, 2025, to five years of federal probation with one year and six months of home detention. He was also ordered to pay $3,448,571.85 in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud involving the Boone County Schools system.
Court records show that Marks owned and operated Rush Enterprises when he began supplying custodial and janitorial products to Boone County Schools at the request of Michael David Barker, then the district’s maintenance director. The partnership started in November 2019 and included items such as hand soap, trash can liners, facemasks, face shields, and hand sanitizer.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools received extra government funding to support safe in-person learning. According to court statements, Marks and Barker began an overbilling scheme around March 2020. From then until December 2023, Barker submitted fraudulent invoices for Rush Enterprises that overstated the quantity of goods delivered. Based on these invoices, Boone County Board of Education issued payments using the United States Postal Service.
Marks estimated that about 80 percent of payments received by his company from Boone County Schools—totaling $3,448,571.85—were for products never actually delivered. He admitted sharing at least half of the fraudulent profits with Barker after subtracting legitimate product costs. Marks deposited checks from Boone County Schools into his business account before cashing checks for himself and delivering cash to Barker in manila envelopes.
Barker, age 48 from Foster, West Virginia, was sentenced earlier on November 10, 2025. He received two years and nine months in prison followed by three years supervised release and must pay restitution equal to that imposed on Marks. Barker had pleaded guilty in April 2025.
“Justice prevailed due to the tremendous teamwork of our federal and state law enforcement agencies,” United States Attorney Moore Capito said. “These two defendants enriched themselves by stealing millions of dollars from a public school system in our southern coalfields during a national emergency. They stole hope from the children of Boone County and did so at the expense of taxpayers throughout West Virginia and our country. This is no longer a negotiable vice in West Virginia – it is a crime we will prosecute without mercy.”
The investigation involved several agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), West Virginia State Police, West Virginia State Auditor’s Office Public Integrity and Fraud Unit (PIFU), with assistance from the West Virginia Department of Education.
United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over sentencing while Assistant United States Attorney Gabriel Price prosecuted the case.
Further information about this case can be found through PACER by searching Case No. 2:25-cr-6.
