CHICAGO (AP) — Two co-defendants in a scheme to steer $23 million in no-bid contracts to an education firm in exchange for kickbacks to the former head of Chicago Public Schools have pleaded not guilty.
The arraignment Wednesday of Gary Solomon, co-owner of SUPES Academy, and his partner, Thomas Vranas, came one day after schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett admitted wrongdoing.
Solomon and Vranas are accused of arranging to pay Byrd-Bennett in exchange for her using her influence to steer no-bid contracts to train principals and other administrators to SUPES.
The indictment alleges Byrd-Bennett expected to receive kickbacks worth 10 percent of the value of the contracts, or about $2.3 million.
Byrd-Bennett stepped down from the third-largest school district in the U.S. in June after word spread about a federal investigation into the contract.
