Ex-president of Madison Schools pleads guilty in bribery case

MADISON HEIGHTS — Following a guilty plea by his co-conspirator in a pay-to-play scheme, a former board president for the Madison District Public Schools has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he received bribe money and avoided paying taxes.

Albert Morrison, 62, president of the MDPS Board of Education from 2012 to 2018, pleaded guilty on April 25 before U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson. Morrison will be sentenced Aug. 28.   

Investigators say Morrison’s co-conspirator and long-time friend, John David, 65, paid him more than $560,000 in bribe money, cutting checks through David’s company, Emergency Restoration, which Morrison cashed through his own company, Comfort Consulting. In exchange, they said Morrison awarded Emergency Restoration more than $3.1 million in maintenance and construction work at school properties. 

David pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges on April 13 and will be sentenced Aug. 14. 

In total, investigators uncovered $561,667 in payments from David to Morrison, from 2014-18. The bribe money was reportedly spent on luxury items including a boat slip and vacations in Florida. 

Neither David nor Morrison disclosed the payments to state auditors. Morrison also allegedly kept the payments secret from the IRS, failing to report them as income during those five years. 

Morrison also did not file a federal income tax return in any of those years except 2014, investigators say. In this way, he is said to have avoided paying roughly $118,200 in taxes.

Morrison’s attorney, Rhonda Brazile, did not return calls for comment.

When reached for comment after the April 25 plea hearing, David’s attorney, Robert Morgan, said, “I don’t have anything new to say.” 

Previously, following David’s guilty plea, Morgan said he anticipated that the alleged amount of the bribe would be found to be lower upon further examination.

U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison condemned the defendants’ actions.  

“This pay-to-play scheme damaged the Madison District Public Schools, and undermined the community’s trust in the education system,” Ison said in a statement after the plea hearing April 25. “This prosecution demonstrates we will not allow the greed of corrupt school officials to harm the interests of our children.”

James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, thanked the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Education Office of Inspector General. All three groups were involved in the investigation. 

“Today, Mr. Morrison admitted to accepting bribes while he was president of the Madison District Public Schools Board. His actions intentionally betrayed the public’s trust that he would act in the best interest of the school district and children,” Tarasca said. “Further, his actions destroyed the public’s trust that contracts would be awarded through a fair and transparent process.” 

The whistleblower was Mark Kimble, who was a school board trustee during the final years of Morrison’s time in office. Kimble has since returned to the board and serves today.  

The Madison-Park News first investigated his claims in February 2018, looking into the 2016 sale of the land once occupied by Monroe Elementary School, located at Dallas and Barrett avenues. By 2018, neighbors were concerned about the imminent construction of around 30 homes at the site.

Those homes were to be built by Emergency Restoration, which had purchased 3.5 acres from the district for $60,000 — a sale approved by the board majority under Morrison’s leadership. To put that price point into perspective, the city previously paid $121,000 for just 1 acre in 2009 with federal grant money through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. In effect, Morrison’s board sold more than three times as much land for less than half as much money. 

The sale of land to Emergency Restoration was also completed without a competitive bid and without Morrison disclosing his friendship with David, a relationship he only disclosed months after the sale was completed.

During the November 2018 election, Morrison announced that he would not run for reelection. Later, shortly before the election, the state released a report validating the majority of Kimble’s claims.  

The report, authored by the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Office of Internal Audit Services, found that during Morrison’s time as president, the district sidestepped bidding requirements by splitting up invoices and classifying all repairs as “emergencies.” 

Emergency Restoration was also being paid fees and operating without board authorization to do “construction management work” for the district. The state noted that all vendors in the district had been operating without contracts, and that not a single purchase order had been used by the district or its contractors, which is required by the board’s bylaws.

The state’s report in 2018 failed to substantiate claims that a “questionable relationship” existed between Morrison and Emergency Restoration — one that resulted in competitive bids not occurring, preferential treatment and/or Morrison benefiting financially.

But with the recent guilty pleas by David and Morrison, Kimble said their relationship is clear.

“There are people who, in the past, doubted our motivation to fail previous bond issues,” Kimble said. “Now they know what we’ve known all along: These guys are crooks, and the money would’ve disappeared.”

The Madison District Public Schools issued a statement regarding the ongoing case.

“As Madison District Public Schools is a victim in this case, the district is entitled to make a statement at sentencing, as well as request court order restitution,” it read. “In partnership with our attorneys and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we are currently evaluating these options.” 

Cindy Holder, the current board president, said the case has been difficult for the district.

“The indictment and subsequent guilty plea of Albert Morrison has created many challenges for our district. As board president, I am disheartened that one of my predecessors has pled guilty to abusing his power, responsibility and privilege working with our community,” Holder said via email. “His actions and the actions of others involved in this case have created mistrust in our community.

“Despite all of this, we have a new leadership team that is working diligently to move our district strongly into the future and rejuvenate the ‘Madison Family Pride!’ Our board is working together to focus on academic achievement and better our relationship with our students, families, alumni and residents,” she said. “Together, we will succeed!”

Call Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at (586) 498-1046.