United States Attorneys Office

Eastern District of Michigan

Barbara L. McQuade
United States Attorney

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2015

Contact: Gina Balaya - (313) 226-9758

www.justice.gov/usao/mie/index.html
Jill Washburn FBI (313)965-1712
Jeffrey Himburg IRS (313) 234-2448

Former EAA Principal and Vendor Indicted

on Conspiracy and Bribery Charges
An indictment was unsealed today charging a former Educational Achievement
Authority (EAA) principal and an after-school tutoring vendor with conspiracy and
bribery charges, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
Joining McQuade in the announcement were David P. Gelios, Special Agent in
Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Jarod J.
Koopman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal
Investigation.
The five-count indictment charges that from approximately August 2012 through
November 2014, Kenyetta Wilbourn Snapp, the former principal of the EAAs Denby
High School and then Mumford High School, conspired to commit bribery and money
laundering. Also charged in the indictment were Glynis Thornton, whose company,
Making a Difference Everyday (M.A.D.E.), provided after-school tutoring services to
Denby and Mumford, and Paulette Horton, who was an independent contractor working
for M.A.D.E.
According to the indictment, Snapp selected Thorntons M.A.D.E. as the afterschool tutoring vendor for Denby and Mumford. In exchange, Thornton paid Snapp
monetary kickbacks as a reward for Snapp selecting and retaining M.A.D.E. as the
after-school tutoring vendor. Thornton disguised payments to Snapp by causing checks
to be issued payable to Hortons company, rather than paying Snapp directly. Horton
would then deposit and withdraw the money and give it to Snapp.

Snapp is also charged with tax evasion for failing to report income during taxable
year 2012. Horton is also charged with failing to file individual tax returns for year 2011.
It is incredibly disheartening when school officials and vendors steal money that
was intended to educate students, as these charges allege," McQuade said. "We
appreciate the full cooperation of the EAA in this matter.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Gelios stated, "Investigation demonstrated that Ms.
Wilbourn-Snapp and her associates took resources allocated to her by the State of
Michigan to educate our children and diverted funds for their own personal gain. There
can be no tolerance for this abuse of authority. Entrusted by the community to facilitate
educational excellence in Detroits schools, those indicted betrayed that trust. The FBI,
and our partners in this investigation, will always work diligently to bring to justice public
officials who selfishly misuse their positions and place their own interests above those
they were hired to serve."
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Koopman stated, The IRS enforces the nations
tax laws, but also takes particular interest in cases involving the payment of kickbacks in
exchange for contracts such as the scheme devised by Snapp.
This case was investigated by agents of the FBI and IRS-CI. This case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Michael Buckley and Frances
Carlson.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled
to a fair trial in which it will be the governments burden to prove guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.