Barbara Byrd-Bennett co-defendants plead not guilty in kickback scheme
An education consultant with long ties to the Emanuel administration pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he promised Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for steering lucrative no-bid contracts to his firm.
The arraignment of Gary Solomon, co-owner of SUPES Academy, came one day after Byrd-Bennett admitted wrongdoing in the same federal courtroom and agreed to testify against Solomon if necessary.
Also pleading not guilty on Wednesday were Solomon's partner, Thomas Vranas, as well the two companies both ran, SUPES and Synesi Associates, another education consulting business.
Solomon's attorney, Shelly Kulwin, has previously said his client did not anticipate going to trial, a signal that he likely will eventually plead guilty in the case. Kulwin said Solomon had cooperated fully with federal authorities since the beginning of the investigation, including turning over emails and other documents before they were subpoenaed.
An indictment returned last week accused Solomon and Vranas of arranging to pay Byrd-Bennett as much as $2.3 million in kickbacks and other perks in exchange for her using her influence to award more than $23 million in no-bid contracts to SUPES, where she had previously worked as a consultant.
In a December 2012 email, Solomon, who also ran a search firm that helped the Emanuel administration select Byrd-Bennett as chief of the schools, assured her that trust accounts had been set up in the names of two of her young relatives, each funded with $147,000, federal prosecutors alleged. The cash would be hers once she stepped down from her public post and rejoined his firm.Barbara Byrd-Bennett co-defendants plead not guilty in kickback scheme - Chicago Tribune:
