Couple arrested for selling fake diplomas

The owners of a local school are in jail. They're  accused of issuing fake diplomas. A Channel 2 Action News reporter and photographer were there as police escorted the couple into the Gwinnett County jail. Stanley and Yessica Jean are both are charged with 20 counts of fraud.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant was in Lawrenceville where he questioned the couple on their way to jail.

Diamant asked Stanley Jean if he had anything to say to the students who signed up in good faith.

"No comment," Jean replied.

Those were the only two words Jean said during a very long walk to jail. Jean and his similarly silent wife, Yessica Jean, face felony charges for allegedly doling out bogus diplomas to potentially hundreds of unsuspecting students.

"I lost money, I lost time, I lost my dream," student Jose Montes told Channel 2 Action News earlier this month.

Montes said he was trying to get his GED to fulfill federal immigration requirements, but he feels conned by the school police say the Jeans ran under the name "New Life Academy."

"On average per student they were giving $3,000," said Gwinnett County Police Detective Norman Cultarevic.

Channel 2 Action News has been investigating this issue for weeks after upset students showed us pictures of graduations they had and the diplomas they received. Later, those students learned the Jeans’ school was not accredited and their diplomas were worthless.

"It's the way that they pulled off the scam and the number of people affected and the way that they affected the people, emotional, financial, name it,” Cultarevic said. "We tried to arrange this arrest several times. We went to their home several times. They weren't there. We actively looking form them."

Police say the Jeans turned themselves in after negotiating details through their lawyer. Diamant asked Cultarevic about what will happen to the students who claim they got conned.

"They're going to unfortunately start all over again, because every application that went through that was based on these documents was being denied," Cultarevic explained.

Detectives say there could be as many as 800 victims in this case. Police expect to file more charges, including theft by deception. A date for the couple’s first court appearance has not yet been set.

WSBTV