Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett began to sob in a federal courtroom Friday as she struggled to explain where "the tipping point" was that led her down a path of corruption.
The pressure of leading the nation's third-largest school system was enormous, she said. The mayor had shuttered dozens of schools, there was a bitter teachers strike, relentless budget issues and students dying virtually every day from gun violence. Still, those stresses were no excuse for lining her own pockets, she said.
"Oh, your honor, I wish I had magic words or a better explanation," said Byrd-Bennett, her voice cracking as she stood at the lectern reading from prepared notes.
Prosecutors, however, said the motive was simple to explain: "Naked greed."
In the end, U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang sentenced Byrd-Bennett to 4 1/2 years in prison for scheming to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks in return for steering lucrative contracts to SUPES Academy, an education consulting firm where she had formerly worked.
The hourlong hearing capped a stunning fall from grace for Byrd-Bennett, who was considered a star in urban education when Mayor Rahm Emanuel handpicked her to lead the city's cash-strapped school district.
In handing down the sentence, Chang said he needed to send a message to other public officials and corrupt vendors that they face significant time behind bars if they're caught defrauding the public for their own financial gain. It's a message that so far has not gotten through, the judge said.
"It's distressing that Chicago has not -- and seems unable to -- shed its image of public corruption," Chang said to dozens of spectators packed into his 21st-floor courtroom. "The people are waiting to find out if Chicago can ever be a city that works for its people and not for corrupt officials and people willing to pay bribes."
Despite the stern talk, Chang's sentence was three years less than what prosecutors had requested and also well below the seven-year term given to SUPES co-founder Gary Solomon, who has been described by prosecutors as the mastermind of the kickback scheme but was not a public official.
In cutting her somewhat of a break, Chang cited Byrd-Bennett's age -- she turns 68 in July -- and ultimate cooperation with authorities in the investigation, as well as the dozens of letters he received extolling her life's work as an educator.
Still, Byrd-Bennett needs to serve significant prison time because her corruption "infected the public education system" and made citizens more cynical that city officials are working on their behalf, Chang said.
"You know better than most that this is not some abstraction," Chang told Byrd-Bennett. "It's a real and concrete problem."
Earlier Friday, Chang sentenced Byrd-Bennett's co-defendant, former SUPES official Thomas Vranas, to 18 months in prison for his role in the massive bribery scandal.
Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty in October 2015 to a single count of wire fraud. She admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors to steering more than $23 million in no-bid contracts to SUPES.
In exchange for Byrd-Bennett's influence, Solomon and Vranas gave her tickets to sporting events, meals and other perks, but no cash actually exchanged hands. Instead, Byrd-Bennett was promised hundreds of thousands of dollars as a "signing bonus" once she left her duties at CPS and rejoined SUPES as a consultant, her plea deal said. The bonus was to be concealed in trust accounts set up in the names her twin grandsons -- with the cash available to her once she left CPS.
A CPS committee set up to evaluate no-bid contracts initially balked at awarding SUPES a noncompetitive deal but later approved the plan, records show.
In pushing for the contracts, Byrd-Bennett admitted she lied to other CPS administrators, telling them she had no financial connection with the company. When one district official raised concerns about the no-bid deal, Byrd-Bennett effectively had him fired, according to court records.
Much of the case centered on emails sent between Solomon and Byrd-Bennett that seemed to make no effort to conceal the alleged kickback scheme.
Solomon told Byrd-Bennett in one 2012 email, "If you only join for the day, you will be the highest paid person on the planet for that day. Regardless, it will be paid out on day one," according to court records.
In another message, Byrd-Bennett implied she needed cash because she had "tuition to pay and casinos to visit," records show.
In court Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Church said the email exchanges gave the whole scheme an air of ridiculousness.
"How could anyone be so stupid to send emails that are so open, so brazen about exchanging money for official action?" Church said.
Chang agreed, saying he was startled by the "casualness" of the corruption.
"The emails were even sprinkled with humor, of all things," Chang said. "It sends a signal to the court that you and Mr. Solomon didn't think you were going to get caught."
While Byrd-Bennett became the public face of the scandal, the Tribune had reported previously that Solomon's ties to the Emanuel administration go back to the beginning of Emanuel's tenure in office, predating the arrival of Byrd-Bennett. In fact, Solomon helped recruit Emanuel's first schools CEO, Jean-Claude Brizard, at the request of the mayor-elect's transition team in February 2011.
Solomon went on to recommend Byrd-Bennett, who was the lead trainer at SUPES when CPS hired her as chief education officer in April 2012.
Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins said in an emailed statement Friday that Byrd-Bennett had "betrayed the public trust."
"She broke the law," Collins said. "She turned her back on the very children she was entrusted to serve, and the children of Chicago are owed much better than that."
Byrd-Bennett left the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse without comment Friday, ignoring questions from reporters as she stepped into a gray minivan waiting on South Dearborn Street. Chang ordered her to report to prison on Aug. 28.
Before he was sentenced earlier Friday, Vranas, 36, read a short statement to the court, apologizing to the schools, the students "and the citizens of Chicago" for all the harm he caused.
"What I did was wrong," Vranas said as his wife cried softly in the courtroom gallery with relatives and supporters. "I will regret it for the rest of my life."
In arguing for probation, his attorneys noted that it was Vranas' truthful cooperation that allowed prosecutors to uncover the scope of a fraud that Byrd-Bennett initially lied about when confronted by FBI agents two years ago.
But Church, the prosecutor, said Vranas played an important role as "the guy behind the scenes getting the work done," hiding money and making sure that Byrd-Bennett was taken care of with payoffs they expected to still be coming for years in the future.
"He was all-in, judge," Church said. "This wasn't a simple mistake or a one-time lapse in judgment."
(c)2017 the Chicago Tribune
