Dr. Horton to take Plea Agreement in Federal Case

Other Horton related trials to continue, including civil case with District 65

Tom HaydenSeptember 30, 20261 min read

I’ve got a few posts coming on the upcoming District 65 financial plans and closures. I’ve been stuck in a bit of writing paralysis — there’s so many moving parts and noise, it’s hard to keep up.

This morning, Evanston Now broke the story that Dr. Horton, District 65’s former superintendent is taking a plea deal in his federal case (Roundtable story). This is after one of his co-defendants agreed to testify earlier this week. You can read that document, essentially confirming the government’s arguments about a kickback scheme:

Each time, SAMUEL ROSS and Horton communicated in order to set up a time and location so that SAMUEL ROSS could make the kickback payment to Horton. Each time SAMUEL ROSS received payment from District 65 as part of the Second Contract, he converted part of each payment to cash, and provided thousands of dollars of cash to Horton, or, in one instance, to a family member of Horton who was acting at Horton's direction. SAMUEL ROSS made kickback payments to Horton on the First and Second Contracts at various locations, to include in or around Ascension School in Oak Park, Mastro's Steakhouse in Chicago, Edward/Elmhurst Hospital in Elmhurst, a Hermes retail store in Chicago, and SAMUEL ROSS's residence in Berwyn.

All of this originated from my reporting back in March 2023, District 65 Superintendent Steering Contracts to Business Partners.

Assuming this plea proceeds, Dr. Horton still has two open cases, including a civil case with District 65 that includes his sister, which has not yet been reported.

  • 26CR3049 (DeKalb County) - Three charges: aggravated assault and two charges of third degree cruelty to children stemming from his arrest in February 2026.

  • 20261110900 (Cook County) - Back in March 2026, District 65 sued both Dr. Horton and his sister. Dr. Horton was sued for $13,718.00, the outstanding balance on his repayment agreement. District 65 sued his sister for $14,991.00 related to a Chicago State degree paid for as part of PREP65 program (according to the District, she was not and has never been a District 65 employee). I wrote about CREATE65 and PREP65 here, both programs were terminated as part of 2024 budget cuts.

Both of those cases continue to move forward.