Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

Ex-principal Kenyetta Wilbourn Snapp, a once-rising education star who was hailed a turnaround specialist in Detroit Public Schools, pleaded guilty today to bribery, admitting she pocketed a $58,050 bribe from a vendor and spent it on herself.

And she did it while working for the embattled Education Achievement Authority, a state-formed agency that was supposed to help Detroit's most troubled schools.

"I received a bribe, sir," Snapp told U.S. District Judge David Lawson. "I betrayed the public trust."

After admitting her guilt in a case that could send her to prison for up to 46 months, Snapp stood and prayed in front of a window on the seventh floor of the federal courthouse. With her hands held out, she quietly uttered these phrases repeatedly: "I call on you every night ... I thank you, Lord."

Snapp, a central figure in an ongoing federal corruption probe into the EAA, faces 37-46 months in prison under the terms of her plea deal — though her cooperation could get her a sentence of 20 months maximum.

Snapp, who will be sentenced June 1, was ordered to pay $58,050 in restitution to the EAA, which had given her authority as principal to choose vendors for her schools. This, Snapp admitted, is where she abused her position by granting a contract for after-school tutoring services to a vendor her paid her money in exchange. The tutoring was provided at Denby and Mumford, where Snapp became principal in 2013.

Snapp, who once drove a Maserati with a Gucci vanity plate, admitted the money from the vendor influenced her decision to give her the contract.

"I used the money for my own purposes," said Snapp, who also admitted she hid about half of her ill-gotten gains from the IRS.

Snapp, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, will also have to pay $26,000 in restitution to the IRS.

With the fate of the EAA still in limbo, Snapp was one of two women to shed some light today on how fraud and corruption ran through an agency that was supposed to help Detroit’s worst schools.

The other was businesswoman Glynis Thornton, the vendor charged with paying Snapp the bribe. The 58-year-old woman also pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting she secretly paid Snapp to secure the contract. She did this, she said, by funneling payments to Snapp through an independent contractor who was also in on the scheme.

"I gave bribery money to K.C. Wilbourn in exchange for a contract," Thornton said.

The judge asked her: "You knew it was illegal?"

"Yes," she answered.

Thornton faces 24-30 months in prison, though prosecutors have said they would drop it to as low as 15 months maximum if her cooperation "substantially assists in the prosecution of others." She also has been ordered to pay $58,050 in restitution to the EAA, though the EAA won't get two payments. Both Thornton and Wilbourn could work out a deal to pay the restitution together.

Thornton, whose 16-year-old company Making a Difference Everyday provided tutoring services at Denby and Kerby high schools, 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.

"She wanted to make some money, as well," Thornton said of the independent contractor.

That person is Paulette Horton, who has been charged in the same case and has a plea hearing scheduled for Feb. 25.

Principal's plea hearing postponed in corruption case

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.

Indicted ex-principal lands job helping poor in Detroit

Snapp has long been the central figure in a yearslong federal corruption probe into the EAA, the state reform district established by Gov. Rick Snyder for the lowest-performing schools. The EAA oversees 15 schools in Detroit.

Since starting up in 2012, the EAA has had a rocky existence. Enrollment has dropped from nearly 10,000 students during its first year to about 7,000 today. Achievement has lagged, and there have been controversies over spending.

The Free Press first reported in October that a sweeping federal corruption probe of the EAA began more than 16 months ago and is focused on current and former top officials as well as vendor payments. Snapp has been 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.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com