West Bloomfield Resident Among DPS Principales Who Allegedly Stole $1M: Feds

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DETROIT, MI – A dozen current and former Detroit Public Schools principals — including a current principal who lives in West Bloomfield — an assistant superintendent and a vendor have been charged in a nearly $1 million illegal bribery and kickback scheme that cost the struggling district $2.7 million, authorities said Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade alleged that Norman Shy, 74, of Franklin, owner of Allstate Sales, conspired with the administrators from 2002 to 2015 to certify and submit fraudulent invoices for school supplies that were never delivered.

In exchange, Shy allegedly paid the 13 administrators bribes and kickbacks totaling more than $900,000 from the $2.7 million he and his company fraudulently received from the scheme, McQuade said, adding the $2.7 million represented more than half of the $5 million Shy and his company billed the school district during the period.

McQuade said the alleged bribery scheme is “a heavy blow to public confidence.”

“Public officials should take note that while it may seem easy to take bribes when they are offered, officials who betray their public trust will eventually get caught and will face the consequences,” she said in a statement.

Announcement of the charges comes as the Michigan Legislature deals with a funding crisis at Detroit Public Schools, which has been under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager since 2009 and has accumulated a $515 million operating budget.

In a statement, Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, said in a statement that the charges against the current and former administrators illustrate “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."

"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,” he said.

Shy and Clara Flowers, 61, of Detroit, a former principal of Henderson Academy and current assistant superintendent of DPS’ Office of Specialized Services, are each charged with one count of count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and one count of tax evasion for failure to report income.

Flowers allegedly received $324,785 in kickbacks, McQuade said.

The 12 others charged with one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, and the amount they allegedly received in kickbacks, include:

• Beverly Campbell, 66, of Southfield ($50,000), former principal of Rosa Parks School and Greenfield Union Elementary-Middle School;
• Clara Smith, 67, of Southfield ($194,000), current principal of Thirkell Elementary-Middle School;
• Germla Johnson, 56, of Detroit ($22,884), former principal of Charles R. Drew Academy and current principal of Earhart Elementary-Middle School;
• James Hearn, 50, of West Bloomfield ($11,500), current principal of Marcus Garvey Academy;
• Josette Buendia, 50, of Garden City ($45,775), current principal of Bennett Elementary School;
• Nina Graves-Hicks, 52, of Detroit ($27,385), former principal of Davis Aerospace Technical High School;
• Ronald Alexander, 60, of Detroit ($23,000), current principal of Charles L. Spain Elementary-Middle School;
• Ronnie Sims, 55, of Albion ($58,519), former principal of Fleming Elementary and Brenda Scott Middle School;
• Stanley Johnson, 62, of Southfield ($84,170), current principal of Hutchinson Elementary;
• Tanya Bowman, 48, of Novi ($12,500), former principal of Osborn Collegiate Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology;
• Tia’von Moore-Patton, 46, of Farmington Hills ($4,000), current principal of Jerry L. White Center High School; and
• Willye Pearsall, 65, of Warren ($50,000), former principal of Thurgood Marshall Elementary School.

McQuade said the school district’s principals had the primary authority for selecting vendors from an approved list, which included Shy's company, and for certifying that the goods were actually received.

She alleged Shy paid the bribes in various forms, including prepaid gift cards, cash and checks payable directly to them or to third parties or companies for their benefit.

Joining McQuade in the announcement were David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Division, and Jarod J. Koopman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.

“As a former educator, this case strikes to my very core,” Gelios said, also in a statement. “To enrich oneself at the expense of school children is bad enough, but to misapply public funds intended to educate kids in a district where overall needs are so deep, funding sources are so strained, and the need for better education is so crucial, is reprehensible and an insult to those educators working every day to make a better future for our children.”

Koopman added: “Principals are in positions of public trust and have an obligation to act in the best interest of their schools and the children for which they represent. Those principals, who line their own pockets through fraudulent means, violate this trust by making the conscious decision to deprive teachers of the very resources necessary to provide quality education. It is extremely disappointing when greed and selfishness deteriorate the communities and future possibilities of our youth.”

EAch of the defendants faces up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on the charge of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. Shy and Flowers also face an additional five years in prison and fines of up to $100,000, together with the costs of prosecution, on the tax evasion charge.