DETROIT — In its latest crackdown on school corruption here, the federal government Tuesday dropped a legal bomb on 12 current and former principals, one administrator and a vendor — all charged with running a nearly $1 million bribery and kickback scheme involving school supplies that rarely were delivered.
Among those charged: Ronald Alexander, principal at Charles L. Spain Elementary-Middle School that's scheduled to receive more than $500,000 in donations from TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Alexander's charge, unrelated to DeGeneres' announcement in February, is bribery for allegedly pocketing $23,000 money from Norman Shy in exchange for using the owner of Allstate Sales as a school-supply vendor, according to federal court records.
Shy, 74, of Franklin, Mich., is at the heart of the accusations. For 13 years, he is accused of paying $908,500 in kickbacks and bribes to at least a dozen Detroit Public Schools principals, scamming schools to the tune of $2.7 million with the help of those principals, prosecutors allege. Each defendant faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
The announcement came nearly two months after ex-principal Kenyetta Wilbourn Snapp, once hailed as a rising education star and turnaround specialist in city schools, pleaded guilty to bribery. Snapp admitted she pocketed a $58,050 bribe from a vendor and spent it on herself while working for the embattled Education Achievement Authority, a state-formed agency that was supposed to help Detroit's most troubled schools.
News of the larger corruption case comes at a critical time as the state grapples with fixing the finances of the struggling Detroit district, the largest school system in Michigan. The schools have been under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager since 2009 and have accumulated an operating deficit of at least $515 million.
Last week, Michigan lawmakers passed $48.7 million in emergency financing to ensure that the school system doesn’t run out of cash early next month. They also put the district under the authority of a financial review commission.
“This is exactly why House Republicans were so adamant that strong fiscal oversight be a prerequisite to any additional state funding for Detroit’s corrupt and broken school administration," state Rep. Kevin Cotter, a Republican from Mount Pleasant and speaker of the state House, said in a news release Tuesday. "And it is why we will continue to insist that strong financial and academic reforms be a part of any long-term solution to decades of DPS failures.”
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced the sweeping charges at a news conference, calling the case "a punch in the gut."
She stressed that the charges have nothing to do with the schools' existing financial troubles or the political debate surrounding whether the state should help the city's struggling school system.
"Public corruption never comes at a good time," McQuade said. "This case is not about DPS. It is not about emergency managers. It is about these 14 individuals who breached their trust."
The charges stem from a 2-year-old audit of the Education Achievement Authority, she said. That audit raised red flags, including one that led to Snapp's eventual indictment.
Snapp, who is set to be sentenced June 1, faces up to 46 months in prison for bribery. Another women, Paulette Horton, an independent contractor who was involved in a deal to provide tutoring services at two high schools, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit program bribery. The 60-year-old consultant admitted that she was the middleman who handed over bribes to Snapp.
Vendor Glynis Thornton also pleaded guilty in January, admitting she gave Snapp money in exchange for awarding her company the tutoring contract. In her guilty plea, Thornton explained how the scheme worked: Thornton would give an independent contractor the bribe money for Snapp, that contractor would meet Snapp at a bank, give her the money, and keep some for herself.
McQuade would not say whether Snapp's cooperation led to any of the new charges, only that the Education Achievement Authority investigation revealed more evidence of Detroit school officials' wrongdoing.
Among those charged Tuesday was Detroit resident Clara Flowers, 61, an assistant superintendent in the schools' Office of Specialized Student Services. She is charged with pocketing $324,785 in kickbacks from Shy for using him as a school-supply vendor.
The kickbacks came in the form of cash, gift cards and payments to contractors who put a new roof on Flowers' house, painted it and did gutter work.
Flowers first used Shy sometime before 2009, when as principal of Henderson Academy she chose his company as that school's school-supply vendor. She would continue to use Shy as a vendor when she became an assistant superintendent.
Shy maintained a ledger to keep track of how much money he owed Flowers in kickbacks, according to court documents. The two regularly met to discuss how much Flowers was owed for her favors, and Shy was careful not to get caught, disguising his payments to Flowers in a variety of methods.
The Free Press attempted to contact lawyers for all 14 defendants. Only one offered to comment.
Most were unavailable. Two declined comment, saying it was too premature to discuss the case.
"Let's not rush to judgment. These are merely allegations," said Doraid Elder, who is representing Stanley Johnson, 62. The former principal of Hutchinson Elementary-Middle School is charged with accepting $84,170 in kickbacks.
"I don’t want people to forget that he’s put over two decades of his heart and soul into giving kids the best education possible," Elder said of Johnson.
Johnson ordered school supplies from Shy then submitted false invoices to DPS, which in turn paid for goods that were rarely delivered, according to court documents. Shy would secretly funnel money back to Johnson by issuing payments to sham companies that Johnson created to conceal the kickbacks, prosecutors allege.
Johnson is "obviously devastated by the charges," Elder said.
"At times, he’s reached in his own pocket and paid for things to help get the kids certain resources that they normally would not be able to get," Elder said. "He's had decades of a stellar record. I’m sure this is not easy for the students, the parents nor the individuals charged."
City school officials and the defendants are cooperating, McQuade said. They all were charged in a document known as an "information," which is similar to an indictment but does not involve a grand jury.
Prosecutors often bring charges by way of an information in cases where the government believes a plea deal will be reached. McQuade would not comment on any prospective plea deals in this case.
The charges angered retired federal Judge Steven Rhodes, who is serving as the transition manager for Detroit Public Schools.
"I cannot overstate the outrage that I feel," he said. The school system has suspended business with Shy and all of his companies.
School officials also have put new policies in place related to purchases, such as suspending all purchases by individual schools and requiring all school-based purchases to have central office approval.
"We want do whatever is necessary to prevent this from happening again," Rhodes said.
The six principals who are current employees have been placed on unpaid administrative and replaced with new interim leaders, he said. The other principals already have left the district.
Contributing: Kathleen Gray and Ann Zaniewski, Detroit Free Press. Follow Katrease Stafford and Tresa Baldas on Twitter: @KatreaseS_freep and @TBaldas
Who's been charged
In addition to Norman Shy, 74, of Franklin, Mich., who owns Allstate Sales school supplies, a dozen Detroit Public Schools administrators and one administrator have been charged in U.S. District Court:
• Ronald Alexander, 60, of Detroit, principal at Charles L. Spain Elementary-Middle School
• Tanya Bowman, 48, of Novi, Mich., former principal at Osborn Collegiate Academy of Math, Science and Technology
• Josette Buendia, 50, of Garden City, principal at Bennett Elementary School
• Beverly Campbell, 66, of Southfield, Mich., former princpial of Rosa Parks School and Greenfield Union Elementary-Middle School
• Clara Flowers, 61, of Detroit, an assistant superintendent of DPS’s Office of Specialized Student Services
• Nina Graves-Hicks, 52, of Detroit, former principal of Davis Aerospace Technical High School
• James Hearn, 50, of West Bloomfield, Mich., principal at Marcus Garvey Academy
• Gerlma Johnson, 56, of Detroit, former principal at Charles Drew Academy, former principal at Earhart Elementary-Middle School and current principal of Marquette-Elementary Middle School
• Stanley Johnson, 62, of Southfield, former principal of Hutchinson Elementary-Middle School
• Tia’ Von Moore-Patton, 46, of Farmington Hills, Mich., principal of Jerry White Center High School
• Willye Pearsall, 65, of Warren, Mich., former principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
• Ronnie Sims, 55, of Albion, Mich., former principal at Fleming Elementary and Brenda Scott Middle School
• Clara Smith, 67, of Southfield, principal at Thirkell Elementary-Middle School
