A former USDA civil rights official from Lorain, Ohio was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for orchestrating a scheme that funneled nearly $400,000 in taxpayer money to his nephew for a job the young man never actually showed up to do. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also ordered Kirk Perry, 60, to forfeit $399,000 in cash or property and serve two years of supervised release after his prison term.
Perry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money, property, and honest services wire fraud, admitting he used his position as a program director in the USDA's civil rights office to get his nephew, Jamarea Grant, hired by two federal contractors, Panum Telecom LLC and AttainX Inc., according to Cleveland.com. Both companies supplied contracted employees to Perry's USDA office, and prosecutors said Perry ensured the two firms kept getting federal contracts in exchange for keeping his nephew on the books. Grant, now 32, of Cleveland, never showed up to the USDA's Washington, D.C. office and performed no actual work, yet he earned roughly $400,000 between 2015 and his eventual departure from the arrangement, per court records cited by Cleveland.com. In return, Grant sent Perry $125,000 in kickbacks.
A Civil Rights Officer Accused of Undermining the Very System He Oversaw
Perry's actual job, according to court filings, was to ensure USDA compliance with laws requiring that customers and employees be treated fairly and equally. He supervised the agency's Employment Adjudication Division within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, a branch tasked with reviewing equal employment opportunity complaints and enforcing non-discrimination compliance across all USDA programs, according to Agri-Pulse. That Perry allegedly exploited his authority in that specific office to run a no-show job scheme has drawn attention as a stark example of the kind of internal fraud the division was itself built to prevent.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly wrote that Perry's participation was a deliberate offense committed week after week over many years, and prosecutors separately described his conduct as brazen. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 33 to 41 months, well above the two years Perry ultimately received. Beyond his nephew, Perry also used his influence to get three additional people hired who had no experience in the field, including his longtime partner, a cousin by marriage, and a personal acquaintance; those three hires were paid a total of $161,000, per Cleveland.com's reporting.
How the Scheme Moved From D.C. to Ohio
Court records show Perry commuted weekly from Lorain to Washington, D.C. from 2015 until March 2020, when he shifted to full-time remote telework from Ohio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Chronicle Telegram. Even while working remotely, he continued approving fraudulent timecard invoices for contractors through November 2022. A September 2024 federal search warrant affidavit, hosted on the Internet Archive, showed investigators traced vehicle records tied to a company called Kirk Perry Co. back to a family-owned property on North Park Street in Oberlin, helping establish the paper trail connecting Perry to his nephew.
The case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General's Sensitive Investigations Office, a specialized headquarters unit that handles high-level allegations of executive misconduct, public corruption, and whistleblower reprisal directly under the Inspector General's leadership, according to USDA documentation. Nationally, USDA Inspector General investigations produced 145 criminal convictions and recovered $17.50 for every dollar spent in the agency's operating budget during fiscal year 2024, the agency has reported, underscoring how a single supervisor with centralized invoice approval authority could exploit that oversight structure for years.
A Defense Built on Family Hardship and Health Struggles
Perry's defense attorney, Brandi Harden, asked the court for nine months of home confinement and 18 months of court supervision rather than prison, writing that Perry was a hard worker who suffered habitual financial issues while supporting his extended family. Court filings noted Perry has previously suffered a stroke and now experiences slurred speech and difficulty caring for himself. His attorney's filings also referenced personal loss, including his mother's death in 1995 and his father's fatal stabbing in 1999.
Perry's Ohio legal career ended amid its own controversy. He worked as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney in the 1990s, representing a man accused of attempting to kill a Lorain police officer in 1999. That same year, he missed four court hearings, and his law license was suspended after a judge issued an arrest warrant; he never renewed it. Ohio court records also show a 1998 misdemeanor falsification conviction after Perry lied under oath about a $1,757 court stenographer bill, and he separately filed a lawsuit against Oberlin College that year.
Nephew's Sentencing Still Ahead
Grant pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges and is set to be sentenced on September 9, 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors have recommended Grant receive six months in prison, while his defense attorney has asked for probation instead. Whether contractors Panum Telecom LLC and AttainX Inc. faced any administrative sanctions or contract reviews as a result of the scheme, and how the USDA's civil rights office has since tightened its invoice approval controls, remain open questions.
Hoodline previously reported on Perry's guilty plea in Ohio last year, when he first admitted to the scheme in D.C. federal court. Friday's sentencing closes out Perry's portion of the case, though the fallout for his nephew and the contractors involved is still unfolding.
