Former DeKalb County School District Superintendent Devon Horton pleaded guilty Monday, Oct. 5, to federal charges of wire fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion in the Northern District of Illinois, a court spokesperson said. Horton previously led a school district in Illinois before taking the DeKalb job in 2023. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges about a year ago. The case was set for trial on Jan. 5, but one of Horton’s co-defendants, Samuel Ross, agreed last week to plead guilty and testify against Horton and two others, according to the account of the case. The court spokesperson did not say whether Horton entered a plea agreement. The charges and plea concern a federal case in Illinois; the available information did not specify the terms of his plea or a sentencing date. The change of plea came on the same day the DeKalb school board made Norman Sauce III the district’s permanent superintendent. Horton had led the district, one of the nation’s largest public school systems, before being ousted in 2025. Horton’s guilty plea closes one chapter in a leadership transition that has left DeKalb families and staff looking to district leaders for stability and accountability. The case now moves toward sentencing in Illinois.