CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES
The U.S. attorney decided this week not to retry former Los Angeles Unified School District math teacher Matthias Vheru, who was acquitted last month of conning the district into placing a $3.7-million order for an algebra textbook that he wrote without disclosing his financial interest in the transaction.
A mistrial was declared after the jury was hung 11 to 1 in favor of acquitting Vheru, who is now teaching math at Knight High School in Palmdale and mentoring other teachers, according to the school.
“I feel absolutely vindicated that I didn’t do anything wrong,” Vheru said.
He was forced to take five weeks off teaching because of the case. His wife, Blandina, said they recently filed for bankruptcy and were at risk of losing their home in California City.
But Vheru’s greatest concern was missing so many classes, he said. “I am finally free to go back to my students; they missed me tremendously,” he said.
-- Alicia Lozano
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