Brickbat: School of Hard Knocks
A former school administrator and two others received federal prison sentences after pleading guilty to wire fraud. Brian Metcalf, a Chicago school principal, and Kimberly Maddox falsely claimed that Maddox or her husband provided services to two school systems and a nonprofit corporation, for work that was not performed. This fraud netted them nearly $700,000 over a decade. Then, while Metcalf was working as a school superintendent in Indianapolis, James Campbell joined the scheme, and Metcalf caused his new school district to pay Campbell nearly $400,000 through fake invoices for consulting work he did not perform. Metcalf and Campbell were sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, while Maddox received two years, and they must pay restitution collectively totaling nearly $1.1 million.