Ex-D.C. principal stands trial for alleged role in fraud scheme

A former District elementary school principal who went on trial Wednesday is charged with seeking to defraud the D.C. Public Schools system out of thousands of dollars.

George Smitherman, who was the principal of Moten Elementary School in Southeast until late 2002, is charged with involvement in a two-year-longscam, during which prosecutors say he approved fraudulent and inflated work orders in exchange for $11,000 in kickbacks.