Ex-head Of Chicago Schools Pleads Guilty In Kickbacks Scheme

U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said Byrd-Bennett used her position as head of the Chicago public school system to steer lucrative, no-bid contracts to her former employer in exchange for bribes or kickbacks.

Both individual defendants as well as the two corporations face multiple counts of wire and mail fraud. “They deserve much more than I gave them”. Gary Solomon and Tom Vranas, the owners of SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates, pled “not guilty”.

Meanwhile, Mayor Rahm Emanuel aimed to distance himself from the scandal and questions that he perhaps knew Solomon prior to Byrd-Bennett’s employment with CPS.

Currently, she remains free on $4,500 bond, but will be sentenced early next year.

The city is looking for “further safeguards to help prevent this type of abuse from happening again”, Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said in a statement later Tuesday. When asked about his relationship with Solomon today, Emanuel said there isn’t one and there never was one.

“When a mayor gets involved in contracts, you have a problem”, he said.

She also acknowledged that she planned to collect 10 percent of a $2.09 million no-bid contract awarded to SUPES by the school district in October 2012, the same day she was formally elevated to CEO. It’s unclear how much money was ever set aside, though the indictment says trust accounts tied to two relatives were set up to hide the money.

Byrd-Bennett had little chance of escaping such an embarrassment, as she and her cohorts exchanged no-holds-barred emails; such as one she allegedly sent asking for cash because “She has tuition to pay and casinos to visit”.

Prosecutors said they would recommend a prison sentence for Byrd-Bennett of roughly seven and a half years – on the condition that she fulfills her promise to “fully and truthfully cooperate” with them, presumably at least against Solomon and Vranas. She answered “yes, your honor”, to all of his questions. Solomon and Vranas also face charges of bribery of a government official and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.

Soloman’s attorney said in a statement last week that Soloman has cooperated in the investigation and stands behind his companies.