Convicted Beverly Hills schools chief tweets his defense

Former Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard took to Twitter last week in a quest to clear his reputation.

After being convicted of two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds related to his post as Beverly Hills schools chief, Hubbard confirmed that he was using social media to expose what he termed a wrongful prosecution and conviction and to call attention to others suffering similar circumstances.

“In coming weeks I will be exposing the lies and hypocrisy of the BHUSD, a greedy ex-superintendent, outright lies by the LA DA — bye for now,” he tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

On the profile for @DrJeffHubbard, Hubbard describes himself as a “wrongfully convicted and incarcerated former school superintendent. Dedicated to the truth about my legal issues & those at the mercy of an unjust legal system.”

In his first tweet, which has a Tuesday evening time stamp, he wrote: “I was wrongly convicted in January 2012 of a crime I did not commit. I was sentenced in Feb 2012 to 60 days in jail & fined. I am innocent.”

Hubbard used his account to take issue with the fact that he was prosecuted for redirecting money to a subordinate without permission. A jury found him guilty of misappropriating $23,500 in public funds without school board permission. Some of his tweets are categorized with hashtags, including miracles, truth and justice.

“Spending 3 million dollars on an alleged $23,500 crime is PURELY POLITICAL — not only that — I was DIRECTED to initiate those payments,” Hubbard tweeted. He later wrote: “Ere you judge — GET THE FACTS ABOUT MY LEGAL CASE! Supts. can’t write checks or force payments — they can only INITIATE a process #justice.”

Reached by phone Wednesday, Hubbard confirmed the authenticity of the tweets and said he planned to also use his account as an advocacy platform for the families of those incarcerated.

Hubbard, who moved to the school district for Newport Beach and Costa Mesa in 2006 after working in Beverly Hills, served four days of a 60-day jail sentence. He was released Monday.

He tweeted that he was placed in isolation because he was a “high profile case.” He described the conditions as terrible.

“I arrived on Thursday with food in my cell — I was ‘thrown’ food 3 times a day — leftovers went rancid — maggots and flies in my cell,” he wrote.

In another entry, he said, “I was forced to undress in front of female guards who commented on many naked male inmates bodies — some cruel comments toward large men.”

He also said he would use the account to discuss his faith and recovery from alcoholism. He quit drinking about 10 years ago, he said on Twitter.

“If you are a recovering alcoholic and you lie — then you will drink again and to drink means to die — I absolutely do not lie,” Hubbard tweeted.

Hubbard also wrote that he is working on a book with his niece about his battle with the legal system and his time as schools chief for the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

“If I lose the appeal it’s not the end of the world,” he said, “because I’ve already lost my career.”

lauren.williams@latimes.com