A Jefferson County, Ohio, grand jury has indicted three people in a racketeering case alleging the theft of about $20 million in student aid and state money from Eastern Gateway Community College, Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber announced on Thursday, October 8. The college, founded in Steubenville, closed permanently in September 2025. An indictment is a charge, not a finding of guilt, and all three defendants are presumed innocent.
The defendants are Michael Perik, who was chief executive of the Student Resource Center, a for-profit contractor that handled financial aid and online enrollment for the college; Nicole Rowe Colclasure, the contractor’s president; and Michael Geoghegan, the college’s former president and chief financial officer. Perik and Colclasure each face 12 felony counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, aggravated theft of $1.5 million or more, bribery and money laundering. Geoghegan faces nine counts. Arraignment for all three is set for October 14, according to Ideastream Public Media.
The Auditor’s office alleges that Perik used four for-profit companies he owned, including the Student Resource Center, to divert money from the college. Federal law bars paying incentive compensation tied to enrollment and financial aid unless the company is an independent third party. The indictment alleges these firms were not independent and instead controlled attendance verification, enrollment, fees and access to financial aid, and that aid was paid for ineligible students and without confirming whether students actually attended. It alleges Geoghegan knew of the scheme and approved the payments.
Faber said the program offering free tuition to union members and their families was presented as funded by scholarships, when it was in fact paid for with Pell Grants combined with large tuition write-offs, as the indictment alleges. He also said the contractor allegedly bribed public officials at the college and altered records to hide the arrangements from regulators and auditors. The Auditor’s office says enrollment rose from about 8,500 students in 2017 to more than 60,000 by March 2022, more than 90% of them online-only.
Federal and state reviews had already found problems. The Auditor’s office says a final U.S. Department of Education program review found aid was improperly used and identified more than $44.4 million in liabilities that should have been repaid, with projected liabilities above $259 million because of the college’s closure and missing records. A state audit released in November 2025 identified more than $17 million in questioned costs.
Defense lawyers pushed back. Attorneys David Axelrod and Karl Schneider, who represent Geoghegan and Colclasure, said in a joint statement that “there was no crime or lack of transparency” and that the college’s operations were reviewed over a decade by state and federal agencies and courts. Brad Babin, who represents Perik, said in a brief statement that “there is no statute of limitations for political retribution, and this is purely political payback.”