Attorney General James Uthmeier says he will investigate Broward County Public Schools’ handling of multimillion-dollar technology contracts that a county watchdog linked to efforts to steer business toward a vendor.
Broward Inspector General Carol “Jodie” Breece’s findings include misleading statements to the School Board and allegations that a vendor submitted falsified paperwork to win a contract.
Her office referred the report to Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor’s Office, raising the possibility of a joint investigation.
“We raised concerns regarding this process last year, and the IG’s report failed to alleviate those concerns,” Uthmeier wrote on X.
“We plan to investigate this further.”
Pryor’s spokesperson, Paula McMahon, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — which first reported on Uthmeier’s comments and did a deep dive on the debacle last week — that prosecutors from both offices intend to discuss the case and that the State Attorney’s Office welcomes collaboration.
As detailed in a 623-page report, Breece’s Office examined three solicitation efforts between September 2023 and October 2024 for computer purchases and distribution services exceeding $40 million. The resulting program distributed roughly 80,000 laptops to students.
Investigators described repeated decisions that disadvantaged Lenovo, the District’s longtime computer supplier, and efforts to secure work for a separate company handling device deployment.
After Lenovo announced plans to challenge a proposed award to competitor HP, District personnel recommended scrapping every bid, citing omitted device types. Investigators concluded the underlying goal was actually to prevent Lenovo from receiving the contract.
A District procurement employee had recommended extending Lenovo’s existing contract, estimating that option would cost $11.3 million less than seeking new bids, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
During a subsequent competition, a now-retired Broward Schools economic development and diversity compliance officer, identified only as D.M. in the report, and Broward Schools employee and vendor Brian Farrell, owner and President of Fort Lauderdale-based Phone & Pad Warehouse, sought to persuade low bidder Figgers Communications to hire Farrell’s company as a subcontractor.
Company owner Freddie Figgers refused, and the District ultimately canceled that competition, too. The IG found that District employees Jennifer Andreu — a Plantation City Council member — and Matthew Bradford, whom Superintendent Howard Hepburn removed as the District’s interim tech chief in August, misled the School Board about staff’s access to bid prices.
Investigators found Farrell “obtained information not officially disclosed to the other bidders and used this information in an attempt to secure work on the bid,” the report said.
Bradford denied intentionally misleading the School Board. Andreu challenged the investigation’s methods and disputed allegations that she helped steer business to Farrell’s company.
For a third round of bidding, the District sought separate contracts for the devices and their distribution, with staff recommending HP for the equipment and Farrell’s company for deployment.
That final equipment solicitation excluded Chromebooks and Android devices, even though District staff had cited their absence as a reason to cancel the first competition.
Breece’s Office alleged Farrell obtained a five-year contract, worth approximately $540,625 annually through 2030, using a modified warehouse lease that overstated his rented space more than twofold. The submitted lease listed 10,800 square feet instead of the actual 4,800 square feet; bidders needed evidence of at least 10,000 square feet.
Investigators calculated that awarding the deployment contract to the alternate vendor “would have cost BCPS $108,750.00 less over the life of the five-year contract,” the report said. They also concluded Farrell violated state laws covering two third-degree felonies and a second-degree misdemeanor, referring their findings to prosecutors.
They did not find probable cause for bid-tampering charges against District employees because they could not establish who disclosed the confidential bidding information.
Farrell’s lawyer, Sidney Calloway, disputed aspects of the findings and argued his limited response should not be interpreted as accepting the allegations.
Hepburn confirmed plans last week to recommend firing two employees, CBS News reported. He also told the Sun-Sentinel he would seek to end the District’s contract with Farrell’s company.
The IG’s Office requested an update by Dec. 29 on 11 recommendations it made to the School Board, including tighter protection of bidding information, stronger checks of vendor qualifications and annual procurement training.