![Barbara Byrd-Bennett [Chicago Public Schools]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tbNZQoCSFgIpWADjGdfDE7ylWhiRNVJRjGW5ji4DmWCjMktxl3CyXwwhpGu_vZQSxe5eRD74BlhC8vr0ho85POc9613eJOZNF6Ezfef0HXydlLZZT0KXbqMHsqc-5LbpsI44WypC3FNXnsHyksz8Jsh6OUs1_7tWn4pN5WvzY9SV2JMBPN0sL6JGM=s0-d "Barbara Byrd-Bennett [Chicago Public Schools]")
Barbara Byrd-Bennett [Chicago Public Schools]
4:23 PM 10/08/2015
The former head of Chicago
Public Schools (CPS) was
indicted Thursday for
allegedly participating in
a bribery scheme that
illegally influenced more than $20
million in city spending.
Public Schools (CPS) was
indicted Thursday for
allegedly participating in
a bribery scheme that
illegally influenced more than $20
million in city spending.
According to the charges against her,
ex-CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett
steered a no-bid $20.5 million contract
to the consulting company SUPES
Academy in return for bribes and the
promise of a job after she left her post.
Prosecutors claim that Byrd-Bennett’s
corrupt dealings began in April 2012,
when she first arrived in Chicago to work
as chief education adviser, and continued
for the next three years.
U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said
Byrd-Bennett plans to plead guilty
at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
She was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Also being charged are two executives
with SUPES Academy, as well as the
company itself and a subsidiary. The
indictments come six months after it
went public that a federal grand jury
had requested documents related to
the SUPES deal, and five months
after Byrd-Bennett stepped down as Chicago’s schools CEO due to the scandal.
with SUPES Academy, as well as the
company itself and a subsidiary. The
indictments come six months after it
went public that a federal grand jury
had requested documents related to
the SUPES deal, and five months
after Byrd-Bennett stepped down as Chicago’s schools CEO due to the scandal.
According to the newly-released indictment, SUPES’s offer of compensation to Byrd-Bennett was quite brazen.
“When this stint at CPS is done and
you are ready to … retire, we have
your spot waiting for you,” SUPES
co-owner Gary Solomon allegedly
said in a 2012 email, shortly after
Byrd-Bennett started working in Chicago.
“Hopefully with even more work and
more (opportunity).” The indictment
further alleges that Byrd-Bennett
was given a cut of SUPES’s contracts
with the government, but that
this financial stake was hidden from
authorities (and in fact deliberately
concealed with a fake letter suggesting
she had parted ways with SUPES). At
other times, Byrd-Bennett had SUPES
deposit over $250,000 in the bank
accounts of two relatives as a
“signing bonus” for her help.
Byrd-Bennett faces 20 total counts
of mail and wire fraud. Solomon and
fellow SUPES executive Thomas
Vranas face the same charges, as
well as charges of bribery and one
count of conspiracy to defraud the
United States.
of mail and wire fraud. Solomon and
fellow SUPES executive Thomas
Vranas face the same charges, as
well as charges of bribery and one
count of conspiracy to defraud the
United States.
Byrd-Bennett and her alleged
co-conspirators face a maximum
penalty of 20 years per offense,
though a guilty plea could lead to a
substantially lower penalty.
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