Ex-Education Dept. Official Pleads Guilty

A former deputy undersecretary for safe and drug-free schools at the Education Department pleaded guilty to charging the government for personal travel, including trips to Texas, where he continued working as a visiting judge while employed in Washington.

Eric Andell's fraudulent expenses on 14 trips from late 2002 to September 2003 were motivated in part by his desire to accrue service time toward receipt of a pension from the state of Texas, the Justice Department said Friday.

He faces one year in prison and has agreed to reimburse the federal government $8,659.85. He will be sentenced July 29.

Andell, a former justice for the First Court of Appeals in Texas, made seven trips to Houston, documents filed in the case show.

For some trips, Andell received his federal salary as sick leave "when in fact he was working and being paid as a visiting judge in the state of Texas," court papers show.