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News Tuesday April 12th, 2016, 5:28pm

SUPES Co-Owner Pleads Guilty In Corruption Case

Thomas Vranas, co-owner of SUPES Academy, pleaded guilty Tuesday as part of the multimillion-dollar kickback case involving former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. 

Vranas pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

Vranas and Gary Solomon, also a SUPES co-owner, were indicted alongside Byrd-Bennett in the bribery scandal. As part of the scheme, former CPS CEO was supposed to receive kickbacks in exchange for steering $23 million in no-bid contracts to the two companies owned by Vranas and Solomon, SUPES and Synesi Associates. The co-owners had pleaded not guilty in the corruption case in October. 

Also in October, Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty to one wire fraud charge as part of her plea agreement with prosecutors.

Byrd-Bennett, who faces a maximum of 7 1/2 years in prison, has not yet been sentenced. 

Sources

  • News links: 
    Chicago Tribune

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Categories

  • Education

Tags

  • Abuse of power
  • Bribery
  • Chicago
  • Chicago Public Schools
  • City of Chicago
  • Contracts
  • Corruption
  • CPS
  • Education
  • Federal government
  • Federal investigation
  • Fraud
  • Indictment
  • Public Corruption
  • SUPES Academy
  • Synesi Associates
  • United States

Public figures

  • Barbara Byrd-Bennett
  • Gary Solomon
  • Thomas Vranas

Level of gov’t

  • City of Chicago
  • Federal Government