COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted three people in the alleged theft of about $20 million from Eastern Gateway Community College, the now-defunct school whose finances collapsed under a free-tuition program that drew federal scrutiny, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced Thursday.
Michael Geoghegan, the college’s former president and chief financial officer, faces nine felony counts including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, aggravated theft of more than $1.5 million, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, bribery and having an unlawful interest in a public contract, according to the auditor’s office.
Michael Perik and Nicole Rowe Colclasure, who operated the former Student Resource Center that ran the college’s free college benefit program, were each indicted on 12 felony counts including corrupt activity, aggravated theft, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, bribery, unlawful interest in a public contract, receiving stolen property and money laundering.
Investigators allege the three diverted roughly $20 million in Pell grants, federal student aid and state subsidies, the auditor’s office said.
Faber announced the charges at a Statehouse news conference with U.S. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.
“These public resources were supposed to help disadvantaged students in an area of the state where educational opportunities were scarce,” Faber said. “Instead, it appears these individuals took advantage of their positions, and students were left out in the cold.”
The indictments are unrelated to a 2023 case in which two other former college officials were charged with misusing school credit cards for personal expenses.
Eastern Gateway, which served students in Columbiana, Jefferson, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, closed in the spring of 2024 after the U.S. Department of Education ordered it to halt enrollment over alleged federal financial-aid violations tied to the free-tuition program. In November 2025, Faber’s office released an audit flagging more than $17 million in questionable spending at the college.
Faber is currently running for Ohio attorney general against Democrat John Kulewicz.
The indictments are allegations. All three defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
