"It would be very difficult for us to pay that money back," said Chris Williams, Davis spokesman. "I don't know exactly how much money is in our reserve account, but it is certainly not $4 million."

However, Marian Storey, Davis Board of Education president, said she hopes that the district will be able to recoup some of the money from frozen accounts.

Susan and John Ross were indicted last week on 47 counts of mail fraud, money laundering, theft of government funds and copyright infringement and defrauding the district of $4.3 million in federal Title I funds between 2000 and 2005.

Prosecutors allege that while working as the district's director of Title I federal funds, Susan Ross used two shell companies to sell pirated education materials back to the schools at inflated prices.

Husband John Ross was working as the district's grant writer at the time.

Stella Smith, who was Susan Ross' secretary, was also indicted on charges of running an embezzlement scheme. Smith is charged with 37 counts of mail fraud, accused of creating fake book orders and charging the school district for some $338,000 in books it never received.

All three pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court Monday.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com