Patterson Joint Unified School District
Outcome
Former assistant superintendent Jeffrey Menge and IT director Eric Drabert were convicted of embezzling approximately $1.5 million from the district through fraudulent vendor invoices and operating an unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operation on district property; sentenced to 30 and 18 months in federal prison respectively.
Details
Patterson Joint Unified School District — Embezzlement and Cryptocurrency Mining Scheme (2018–2022)
Outcome: Former Assistant Superintendent Jeffrey Menge and IT Director Eric Drabert were convicted of federal embezzlement for stealing approximately $1.5 million from the district through fraudulent vendor invoices and an unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operation run on district equipment and electricity; sentenced to 30 and 18 months in prison respectively.
Patterson Joint Unified School District serves students in Patterson, California (Stanislaus County). Jeffrey Menge, 45, served as the district's Assistant Superintendent and Chief Business Officer from 2018 to 2022. In approximately 2020, Menge hired Eric Drabert, 46, as the district's IT Director.
Menge created a fictitious company, "CenCal Tech," and posed as its executive, "Frank Barnes," to fraudulently bill the district for technology goods and services that were never delivered. The district processed more than $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions to this fictitious vendor. Menge deposited the payments into accounts he controlled and used the funds to remodel his home and purchase luxury vehicles, including a Ferrari, an Audi, and a Corvette.
In a separate prong of the scheme, Menge and Drabert used district funds — specifically high-end graphics processing units purchased through the fraud — to build a cryptocurrency mining farm on district property. The mining rigs ran on district electricity, consuming district resources while the mined cryptocurrency was transferred directly into the defendants' personal wallets. Drabert's personal gain from the scheme totaled approximately $276,000.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. On March 4, 2026, U.S. District Court sentenced Menge to 30 months and Drabert to 18 months in federal prison. The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation.
Primary Source: DOJ USAO-EDCA — Former Assistant Superintendent and Former IT Director of Patterson Joint Unified School District Sentenced to Prison
How Crucible Prevents This
Vendor verification controls would have flagged "CenCal Tech" — a fictitious company created by Menge — as an unregistered or unverified vendor receiving large payments. Segregation of duties preventing a business officer from both selecting and approving vendor payments to the same entity would have structurally blocked this fraud. IT asset tracking controls would have flagged the purchase of high-end graphics cards inconsistent with legitimate district technology needs. Energy consumption monitoring on district electrical infrastructure would have detected the anomalous draw from crypto mining hardware. The scheme required Menge to pose as a fictitious executive — identity verification controls for new vendors would have caught the fabrication.
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