County Commissioners Defend $1.2M ARPA Grant to Felon Who Executed 24-Year-Old EMU Grad

by P.D. Lesko

In 1976, Billy Cole was found guilty of felony murder and armed robbery and sentenced to life + 60 years by Washtenaw County Judge Ross W. Campbell. In 1985, while in prison, he was found guilty of felonious assault, according to MDOC records. In August 2019, Cole was paroled. In 2020, along with registered sex offender Alan Fuqua, records show Cole co-incorporated the non-profit Supreme Felons, Inc. In April 2022, Supreme Felons, Inc. submitted a grant proposal filled with omissions, fabrications, and inconsistencies in support of an ARPA fund grant from the County. On July 6, 2022, Cole and Fuqua were awarded a $1.2 million grant, along with the public support of all nine Washtenaw County Commissioners. There was no debate, and the vote was unanimous.

The Ann Arbor Independent recently asked Washtenaw County Commissioners by email if County Administrator Gregory Dill, or anyone else had apprised them of the brutality and nature of Billy Cole’s crimes prior to their votes to award over $1 million in public money to Cole’s non-profit, Supreme Felons, Inc. The commissioners did not respond. Instead, at an Oct. 19 meeting, the County Commissioners defended their actions, attacked as racist their own constituents who questioned the award, and complained that The Ann Arbor Independent’s reporting about the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant is “misinformation.”

At that meeting, Ann Arbor County Commissioner Jason Morgan, who is running opposed for the Michigan House of Representatives, not only defended his vote to award the federal money to Supreme Felons, Inc., but attacked The Ann Arbor Independent. Morgan accused the newspaper of “spreading misinformation” in its reporting of the Commissioners’ unanimous vote to award the grant; he criticized as inaccurate the newspaper’s use of public records to determine that the grant had been awarded to a felon on parole, and a registered sex offender. Morgan said only “legitimate news sources” should expect a response to questions about the actions of the County Commissioners.

Morgan was the Director for Constituent Services and Transparency Liaison for the Michigan Secretary of State for five months in 2019 before “departing,” according to SOS officials. Morgan then landed a temporary teaching job as a part-time adjunct instructor of government at Washtenaw Community College. He has served on the County Commission for a little over five years.

County Commissioner Justin Hodge, a social worker, in his comments at the meeting announced to the public that, “Supreme Felons has saved lives.”

According to Michigan State Police crime reports, between 2019 and 2021, when Supreme Felons, Inc. was allegedly providing “life-saving” services to the Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township communities, Washtenaw County’s murder rate rose over 150 percent. Weapons charges levied by the County Sheriff rose over 100 percent, from 87 charges to 187 charges.

District 4 County Commissioner Caroline Sanders, is running opposed for re-election. In a constituent email shared with the A2Indy, Sanders called the Ann Arbor Independent’s reporting about the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant, “financed, biased” and “not worthy of a response.” Sanders, who is the Associate Director of Community Relations & Engagement at EMU, was asked if she knew the nature of Cole’s crimes prior to her vote and defense of the $1.2 million grant. She did not respond.

Sue Shink is a lawyer and Chair of the County Commissioners. Shink has repeatedly refused to comment on her vote to hand $1.2 million to Supreme Felons, Inc co-incorporated by a murderer and a registered sex offender. Shink’s judgement was publicly called into question by State Senator Arik Nesbitt. The A2Indy asked Shink if she knew the nature of Cole’s crimes prior to her vote and praise of Cole’s non-profit. She did not respond.

“The longer she refuses to answer questions about this, the more likely it seems she has something to hide,” said Nesbitt. He added, “If Sue Shink cannot explain why she gave this group founded by a murderer and a sex offender more than $1 million and access to school children, it should be disqualifying for any office she seeks.”

Commissioner Sanders’s opponent Rob Zimmerman said, “At the [Oct 19] meeting where I spoke, the Commissioners responded defensively and inappropriately to valid concerns about the county’s at- risk youth. Instead of responding in a manner reflecting transparency and accountability to the public they were elected to serve, board members deflected the issue, accusing anyone questioning the grant as motivated by politics and racism.”

At the BOC’s Oct. 19 meeting, County Administrator Greg Dill assured Commissioners and the public that Supreme Felons, Inc. had not yet received any of the $1.2 million allocated. Dill also said that the County was following all guidelines associated with allocation of ARPA funds. Federal officials have said that grant applications for federal funds that contain fabrications, as does the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant application, do not comply with ARPA fund allocation guidelines.

Ypsilanti resident Tyrone Bridges produces a local politics podcast titled, “I Thought You Knew.” He called the Commissioners’ actions “shameful.” Bridges, in his public comments at the Oct. 19 meeting, said that the elected officials were obligated to answer questions about their votes, including from media and constituents.

While Bridges expressed anger and outrage, Lawyer Doug Winters finds the decision to award the grant to Supreme Felons, Inc., and subsequent public defense of the award by the County Commissioners, “heart-breaking.” Winters knew Mark D. Simpson, a 24-year-old EMU graduate whom Billy Cole executed at 4:30 a.m. on June 27, 1975.

Winters, who knew Mark Simpson, says he was “smart, intellectual and very motivated.”

“I would stop into the Stop-N-Go and talk to Mark. I’d see him at the EMU library when I was home from law school at Wayne State,” said Doug Winters.

Mark D. Simpson had graduated from EMU but was working the night shift at the Stop ‘N Go store at 1512 Washtenaw Ave., because he was finding it difficult to land a job in his academic field. In the early morning hours of June 27, Simpson was bound, gagged and executed. Billy Cole fired three shots at Simpson: one each to the back of the head, face and body. The take from the robbery was $169 in cash; Simpson had refused to open the store’s safe.

Cole executed Mark Simpson because, it came out during Cole’s trial, that Cole and his accomplice were concerned that Simpson would have been able to identify them to police.

In a recent report on WEMU, Billy Cole, speaking as Supreme Felons, Inc.’s self-identified president, expressed outrage at the crimes committed by co-incorporator of the non-profit, Alan Fuqua. Cole told the reporter when he found out about Fuqua’s crimes, “We immediately parted ways.” Cole also said Supreme Felons, Inc. does not have members who are sex offenders. The non-profit does not do background or criminal records checks on members, as evidenced by Fuqua’s long association with the group.

“I heard Billy Cole on WEMU talking about Fuqua,” said Doug Winters. “Who is Billy Cole to pass judgement on another felon, on anyone else? It’s grotesque. He never showed remorse after Mark’s murder. He committed armed robbery after he murdered Mark. He was charged with felonious assault in prison, and now? He’s going to be held up as an example to children, to the community? He’s going to work for the Sheriff?”

According to public records, Billy Cole, who is on parole until Aug. 6, 2023, was hired as a part-time “Temporary Law Enforcement Officer” in the Sheriff’s Dept. Records show his 2022 hourly pay rate is $25. In 2021, Cole’s payroll records show he claimed to have worked 2,454 hours (61.3 weeks @ 40 hours per week) as a part-time outreach worker.

Cole is currently supervised by the Sheriff’s Dept. head of community outreach, Derrick Jackson. On Oct. 21, according to sources in the Sheriff’s Dept., Jackson hosted a gathering where he announced his intention to run for Washtenaw County Sheriff in 2023. He will be opposed by at least one other candidate and perhaps more.

The Washtenaw County Community Mental Health Dept., using Mental Health Millage money, recently paid for a billboard on I-94 on the border of Washtenaw and Wayne counties. That billboard featured a picture of Derrick Jackson. Likewise, Derrick Jackson presently appears in CMH advertisements on AAATA buses.

One of Washtenaw County’s elected officials posits that the job for Billy Cole and the grant to the non-profit Cole co-founded is “money well spent” in the eyes of elected officials. It’s about making sure Derrick Jackson gets elected Sheriff in 2023. The Supreme Felons, Inc. members, suggested that County official, will not only register voters, but will “help” friends, relatives and others fill out absentee ballots.

The Supreme Felons, Inc. three-year grant proposal includes using the federal funds to mentor school children inside and outside school, mentor newly-release felons, and to register voters. This activity has raised questions, including legal ones.

Doug Winters says the people whom he has spoken with are utterly disgusted by the County Commissioners’ actions in awarding and defending the $1.2 million in federal funds to Supreme Felons, Inc. “Mark Simpson was tied up, gagged and then shot three times, executed, for the $169 in the register. Billy Cole gets $1.2 million from the County Commissioners, a job as a ‘Temporary Law Enforcement Officer’ from the Sheriff, and a second chance? Where is the second chance for Mark Simpson?”