Byrd-Bennett was indicted on charges she accepted money and benefits from two firms she had previously worked for, the SUPES Academy and Synesi, in exchange for guiding no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to them.
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Federal authorities allege Byrd-Bennett schemed with Gary Solomon and Thomas Vranas, co-owners of the education consulting firm SUPES Academy, to secure school administrator training contracts shortly after being appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012 to run the city’s public school system.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Northern Illinois alleges that the companies provided Byrd-Bennett with numerous other “benefits, including meals, an airplane ticket, and seats at basketball and baseball games”, according to the indictment.
He said she would plead guilty at a later date to charges in the indictment, which also accuses the companies’ owners of offering Byrd-Bennett a job and one-time payment – disguised as a lucrative signing bonus – once she left CPS, which is facing a steep budget shortfall and a severely underfunded pension system.
A Justice Department news release indicates that Byrd-Bennett also expected to receive reimbursement from the companies for costs associated with a holiday party she hosted for Chicago school district personnel. By the end of the month, the district suspended the contract with SUPES and Byrd-Bennett went on a leave of absence as the district wrestled with a number of subpoenas from the federal government. She resigned in May. Byrd-Bennett, 66, of Solon, Ohio, is charged with 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud in the indictment. Both men are charged with bribery and conspiracy to defraud, along with mail and wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Solomon sent Byrd-Bennett an email on April 29, 2012, which said, in part, “When this stint at CPS is done and you are ready to re re re retire, we have your spot waiting for you”. A former teacher and principal, Byrd-Bennett forged a bond with CTU President Karen Lewis when she helped negotiate an end to the strike. Vranas, 34, of Glenview, is charged with 15 counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bribery, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. “School officials and city vendors who abuse the public trust will be held accountable”.
According to reports by the Chicago Sun-Times, Mary Martin, Rosemary Herpel and Sherry Ulery – all former administrators here who later worked for Byrd-Bennett in Chicago – were looked at by federal investigators this summer.
The companies Byrd-Bennett worked with concealed the kickbacks by funneling them into accounts under the names of Byrd-Bennett’s relatives, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The public education system is harmed when a high-level insider chooses to line their pockets with public funds”, CPS Inspector General Schuler said. The indictment cites an email between Solomon and Vranas that stated “It is our assumption that the distribution will serve as a signing bonus upon your return to SUPES/Synesi”.
Solomon ended up starting those funds, which were found to have had $127,000 each in them, or about 10 percent of the gross proceeds of an early deal to SUPES.
The district for the country’s third-largest city has had five chief executives in four years and is making drastic spending cuts this year as it faces a potential $1.1 billion deficit.
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The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Cunniff Church and Lindsay Jenkins.
