Ghosts can speak from beyond the grave, or at least through depositions in a federal courtroom.
A deposition from the late Tom Tourand, former director of technology for Bibb County Schools, was used as evidence in the federal trial of former chair of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce Chair Isaac Culver Thursday.
Tourand passed away in 2017 from a terminal disease.
Culver, who is also the CEO of Progressive Consulting Technologies, Inc., is charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and money laundering.
He's accused of defrauding the Bibb County School District out of $3.7 million while giving them unusable computer technology in return.
Former Superintendent of Bibb County Schools, Romain Dallemand, testified earlier that day, saying he put his trust in Tourand, since this was his area of expertise.
Tourand's deposition told a different story.
In the deposition, Tourand said it was not his idea to purchase NComputing devices for the school district, he was not consulted about the deal and he was against it.
He said he had concerns about the rollout of 15,000 devices and that it would take "10 years to install."
Tourand voiced those concerns to Dallemand, but Dallemand said installation would be handled by Culver and PCTI. A service agreement as well as invoices confirmed that PCTI would be handling installation.
Tourand said he signed off on the appropriate papers because it was his job.
According to the deposition, both PCTI and Tourand were being directed by Dallemand.
Tourand said the reason Dallemand was in a hurry to purchase the NComputing devices in 2012 was to get a good discount on them before the end of the year.
FAST FACTS: A breakdown of Isaac Culver's federal fraud trial
HOW THE NCOMPUTING DEVICES WORK
The NComputing L300 was the device Bibb County schools was after. They bought 15,000 of them, 300 of which are in use. The rest sit in the school district's warehouse on Roff Avenue, according to video evidence.
Former Vice President of Sales for NComputing, Simon Pearce, testified Thursday and explained you can hook multiple monitors, keyboards and mice up to one L300.
The L300 then serves as the main central processing unit.
In order for an NComputing device to work, it requires the hardware mentioned above, as well as servers and licenses.
The service agreement between PCTI and the school district said the school district would provide hardware such as monitors, keyboards, and mice, but Pearce said the age of the hardware affects performance with the L300.
Pearce said NComputing devices were a popular technology in schools systems in the United States. He confirmed Georgia was one of the top states whose school systems used their technology.
Coffee County had the same devices installed in 2013 on a smaller scale, according to Chandler Newell, director of information systems for the Coffee County school district.
Coffee County received 2,418 devices, 1,500 of which are still in use today.
Pearce said the Bibb County sale was one of the largest sales for NComputing at the time. So large in fact, they asked PCTI to pay in cash, and they did.
It was also one of the lowest prices NComputing sold the L300s for--at $116 per device, according to payment records.
Coffee County paid around $152 dollars per L300, according to payment records.
Newell said they are impressed with the L300s, and are happy with their purchase.
In his deposition, Tourand said he thought the L300 was a great device.
DEFENSE LAWYERS DISPUTE CHARGES
Thursday the defense argued against some of the charges in the case.
Defense attorney John Garland said there was no evidence to support an intent to deceive the school district. They argued the school district "got what they bargained for" in the deal for a good price.
U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell disagreed.
This is not the first time they've disputed something in the case.
On Tuesday, the defense asked for Tourand's deposition to be dismissed from evidence. Judge Treadwell turned down their request.
The defense previously cited Dallemand in their opening statements, saying he had an "authoritarian" style of leadership.
The trial will resume Friday at 8 a.m. with the defense presenting their case.