Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

She was first. She cooperated. And it might pay off.

Ex-Detroit principal Kenyetta Wilbourn Snapp, the first person charged in a wide-sweeping school corruption probe that has ensnared 18 individuals so far, saw the benefits Tuesday of cutting the first deal in a massive case: Prosecutors recommended a 20-month prison sentence for the convicted principal, a big break from the nearly four-year-sentence she faces for pocketing a $58,050 bribe from a vendor.

According to a filing in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney's office concluded Snapp has provided "substantial assistance" in its investigation and prosecution of others in school corruption cases, and has therefore earned the leniency she was promised when she pleaded guilty in February.

Snapp admitted that she took a bribe while working for the embattled Education Achievement Authority, a state-formed agency that was supposed to help Detroit's most troubled schools.

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Under the terms of her plea deal, Snapp, who once drove a Maserati with a Gucci vanity plate — a gift from a vendor — faces 37-46 months in prison. She will be sentenced June 1. As part of her punishment, she will have to pay the money back to DPS.

The prosecution's request for a more lenient sentence for Snapp follows the guilty pleas of 10 Detroit principals, who admitted in previous weeks that they accepted kickbacks from longtime school supply vendor Norman Shy in exchange for helping him bill DPS for materials that were never delivered. Shy, who was accused of bilking $2.7 million from DPS, also pleaded guilty to bribery and faces up to seven years in prison. He also has been ordered to pay $2.7 million in restitution to DPS.

All 10 principals who pleaded guilty, plus an assistant superintendent, also face prison time for their crimes. Their sentences range from 18 months to nearly six years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, an investigation into the embattled EAA is what led authorities to Shy and the principals.

First, they charged Snapp and two vendors — all of whom pleaded guilty.

Then came criminal charges in March against 14 individuals —12 principals, an assistant superintendent and Shy — who were charged in a kickback scheme.

On Tuesday came another corruption case for DPS, this one involving a former grants administrator who is charged with pocketing nearly $1.3 million that was supposed to be used for tutoring services for kids. Carolyn Starkey-Darden, 69, the former director of grant development at DPS, is charged with billing DPS $1.275 million over seven years for never-delivered tutoring services through companies she created.

The U.S. Attorney's office has not said what tip, or what individual, led authorities to Shy. But Snapp was the first person to be charged following the federal corruption probe into the EAA.

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Snapp previously admitted to the Free Press in exclusive interviews that she broke the law, including burying a student’s parent with school funds. But she committed crimes because — Snapp claimed — she wanted to help underprivileged people, and cutting corners became easy.

The Free Press first reported in October that a sweeping federal corruption probe of the EAA began in 2014 and was focused on current and former top officials as well as vendor payments. Snapp was at the center of the scrutiny.

Snapp was hailed as a turnaround specialist when she worked at Detroit Public Schools, first at Denby High and later at Mumford High. Both schools were part of the DPS before they were placed in the EAA in 2012.

Snapp abruptly resigned from the EAA in November 2014 after federal agents raided her apartment in downtown Detroit. Six months later, the EAA received a letter from the FBI saying Snapp was under investigation.

Snapp told the Free Press in October that she had agreed to a deal to plead guilty to bribery and tax evasion. Five weeks after her interview, the indictment was unsealed.

Meanwhile, according to a new court filing on Tuesday, an 11th Detroit principal has cut a deal with the federal government in the kickback case involving Shy.

Willye Pearsall, a former principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, has a plea hearing scheduled for June 15.

11th Detroit Public Schools principal cops a plea in kickback case

Pearsall, 65, is charged with accepting $50,000 in kickbacks from Shy over a period of two years for signing off on Shy's fraudulent invoices. According to court documents, to disguise the kickbacks, Shy funneled money to Pearsall by writing checks to one of her businesses, known as "Safety Net Enterprises." Shy also wrote checks to J & J Youth Services. Those checks were really kickbacks to Pearsall, prosecutors allege in court documents.

Pearsall is charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. Pearsall is scheduled to plead guilty in two weeks.

Shy will be sentenced in September. So far, the stiffest penalty faced by his cohorts is nearly six years in prison. That's what ex-Assistant Superintendent Clara Flowers is looking at after pleading guilty to accepting nearly $325,000 in kickbacks from Shy for helping him submit inflated invoices for materials that were meant for special education kids. The supplies, she said, were never delivered.

Prosecutors allege Shy cut deals with individual principals at different schools. The principals would approve his inflated invoices, and when Shy got paid, he kicked money and gift cards back to them, prosecutors say.

Out of the 14 defendants charged in March, 12 have pleaded guilty. The only defendant who has not cut a deal in the kickback scheme is Josette Buendia, 50, of Garden City, principal at Bennett Elementary School. She is charged with accepting $45,775 in kickbacks from Shy.

Ex-EAA principal pleads guilty: I betrayed public trust

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com