The former CEO of the Tindley charter school network and two other individuals must pay nearly one million dollars in restitution to the school system after pleading guilty to wire fraud.
Brian Metcalf will also serve over a year in prison. His fraud began just months after the Tindley network consolidated its five Indianapolis schools into three in 2019 amid financial struggles and low enrollment. The network enrolled 1,000 students in the city last year.
The judgment against Metcalf in federal court last week ends a fraud case based on Metcalf’s time leading the charter network, as well as his time as a Chicago Public Schools principal and as an employee for the nonprofit City Year Chicago.
Federal prosecutors claimed Metcalf used his positions in these organizations to defraud them with the help of two other defendants, Kimberly Maddox and James Darnell Campbell. Campbell and Maddox submitted invoices for services that were never delivered, and in turn would give Metcalf a portion of the funds, prosecutors alleged.
Metcalf was CEO of Tindley from July 2019 to December 2022. The fraudulent activity concerning the charter network took place from October 2019 to August 2022, according to court documents. The grand jury indictment against Metcalf, Maddox, and Campbell was unsealed in December 2023.
Metcalf pleaded guilty to two of the nine counts of wire fraud counts against him. He admitted in a plea agreement last year that he used some of that money to pay his credit card bills, mortgage provider, car loan, a casino that hosted his family reunion, and a company that fixed his roof.
Maddox pleaded guilty to one of the four counts of wire fraud against her and was sentenced to two years in prison last month. Campbell also pleaded guilty to one of the five counts against him and was sentenced to a year and one day in prison.
An attorney for Metcalf declined to comment. An attorney for Campbell and Maddox also declined to comment.
The Tindley network is due a total of $939,800 in restitution.
Metcalf and Maddox must collectively pay $539,800 in restitution to the Tindley network. Metcalf and Campbell must collectively pay the network another $400,000, according to court documents.
Metcalf and Maddox must also collectively pay $88,500 to Chicago Public Schools and $70,900 to City Year.
Restitution is due immediately, according to a spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District Court of Illinois.
Tindley leaders did not respond to requests for comment on how it plans to spend the restitution.
Prior to leading the Tindley network in 2019, Metcalf served as an interim principal and later as a chief of schools in Chicago Public Schools, according to CPS. He was also the managing director of impact at City Year Chicago, according to court documents.
The Tindley network has since adopted new vendor policies and procedures, CFO Sandra Tresselt told Mayor Joe Hogsett’s charter school office in December 2024 as the charter for the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School was up for renewal.
This article was written by Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Amelia Pak-Harvey.
