These Four County Staffers Recommended Funding Fraudulent Grant Proposal for Felons, Including Sex Offenders, to Mentor Kids

by P.D. Lesko

How did a fraudulent $1.2 million grant proposal filled with fabrications, and submitted on behalf of a registered sex offender and a murderer on parole, ever get funded? A grant to fund work with children in and out of the schools. The fraudulent proposal was scrutinized by four senior county staffers, the County Administrator, a citizen review group, and every County Commissioner. The finger-pointing is dizzying:

• the County Administrator says responsibility lies with the citizen review group;
• county staff who scrutinized the proposal, say funding the fraudulent grant proposal was the sole responsibility of the elected County Commissioners and the citizen appointees to the citizen review group;
• members of the citizen review group (that included four county staff and four County Commissioners) say they scored the proposals and recommended funding, but that four county staff scrutinized the grant proposals before the citizens ever saw them.
• The Sheriff, meanwhile, is blasting as “irresponsible” and racist taxpayers who are enraged and “sickened” at the prospect of registered sex offenders and felons getting $1.2 million in public money to “mentor” school children in and outside of schools.

In an Oct. 25, 2022 press release “update” about the County Commissioners’ $1.2 million grant to Supreme Felons, Inc. County Administrator Gregory Dill wrote that, “We support our decision to support Supreme Felons, Inc….”

Public records turned over to The Ann Arbor Independent revealed that four of County Administrator Gregory Dill’s senior staffers controlled both the vetting process, and the work of the citizen review group that recommended Dill and the County Commissioners hand over $1.2 million in federal ARPA funds to a non-profit group called Supreme Felons, Inc. Those senior staffers are: Alize Asberry Payne, Racial Equity Officer; Crystal Campbell, Information Officer Administration; Andrew DeLeeuw, Director of Strategic Planning and Kelly Belknap, Finance Special Projects. Supreme Felons, Inc., according to State records, was incorporated in 2020, and is currently legally controlled by a murderer on parole and a registered sex offender.

The public was led to believe, through County officials and information posted to the County website, that county staff would “vette” the grant proposals, but then “citizens” would score the proposals and recommend funding. In reality, Greg Dill’s four staffers, named above, controlled both steps of a grant evaluation process that was portrayed as having four discrete steps.

Asberry Payne refused to comment when reached by phone. She referred questions to Crystal Campbell, the County information Officer since 2020. When reached by phone Campbell, likewise, refused to comment. She insisted questions be submitted in writing.

When asked if she’d been a member of the citizen advisory group, Campbell said she had not been. When told public records and participants in the group identified her as a participant, Campbell ended the conversation.

In her written answers, Campbell placed the entire responsibility for the grant to Supreme Felons, Inc. on the County Commissioners: “Again, the ultimate authority resides with the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners to allocate the funding.” Campbell added that the citizen advisory group was “only to review and provide recommendation. It [did] not obligate funding or the level of funding.”

Former Superior Twp. Treasurer Brenda McKinney was a member of that citizen advisory group along with Crystal Campbell. McKinney said that the four county staffers led the three-hour weekly meetings and answered questions about the individual grant proposals. McKinney also said that the citizen advisory committee “scored” the grant proposals, and that the group recommended funding levels for each proposal.

Four County Staffers Failed to Detect Multiple Obvious Fabrications and Fraud in the Grant Proposal for the $1.2 Million

The Supreme Felons, Inc. grant proposal that was allegedly “vetted” by the four senior staffers included these details:

1. Felons, including registered sex offenders, would use the $1.2 million and go about “expanding” their work with children in public schools, and work with children unsupervised in public parks.
2. The grant proposal budget contained no money for background checks, training or support for a group that planned to pair felons with children in “mentoring” programs.
3. Felons on parole would be “mentored” by felons—a violation of MDOC parole conditions.
4. The grant proposal contained no verifiable data on the non-profit’s work or outcomes.

Superintendents of the Ypsilanti Community Schools (YCS) and the WISD stated in emails that members of Supreme Felons, Inc. have never worked in their schools and have never contacted them to seek any kind of partnership.

In addition to fabricating partnerships with YCS and WISD, the grant proposal purported that the non-profit’s work outcomes “data” were available from the County Sheriff: “We have data from the Washtenaw Sheriff’s Office as Volunteer Street Outreach workers with over 200 individuals, many of whom stayed in contact with us after their release and who have not returned to the facility since May 2021. This was the start of making a tremendous impact on the recidivism rate in Washtenaw county since 2000….”

The Ann Arbor Independent submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the “data” referred to in the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant proposal. The approximately 150 redacted records turned over were unsigned and in no way attributed to Supreme Felons, Inc. When questioned about the redacted records, the County FOIA coordinator said via email, “these records are from the Outreach Workers notes section of the Sheriff’s Office Community Engagement Division, so would be the notes wrote [sic] by the Outreach Workers.”

None of the public records provided from the Sheriff’s LEADD program are signed by the outreach worker who produced the record. In addition, the County’s FOIA officer redacted the names of public employees (including outreach workers) that appear in the records. The A2Indy has appealed her redactions of those names.

Supreme Felons, Inc. “president” Billy Cole was hired by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Dept. as a “Temporary Law Enforcement Officer” on a part-time basis. Cole is not a “volunteer” outreach worker in the LEADD program; his current hourly rate is $25.00, according to public records. All of Clayton’s outreach workers are paid an hourly rate, according to public records.

Contrary to what the Supreme Felons, Inc. proposal purported (and the County Sheriff claimed in a Nov. 1 press release), there exists no evidence that Supreme Felons, Inc. ever conducted any outreach work. In truth, the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant proposal claims credit for the work done by the County’s LEADD staffers, including outreach workers, case managers and a Deputy Sheriff trained in “LEADD intake and referral.”

County Sheriff Lashes Out at Critics of Grant for Felons to Mentor School Kids

Thus far, the members of the Washtenaw Board of Commissioners have Ignored public calls to revisit the process through which $1.2 million in federal ARPA money was handed out to a non-profit co-incorporated by a murderer on parole and a registered sex offender in order to “mentor” disadvantaged Black, Brown and white men, women and children in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Twp.

On Nov. 1, County Sheriff Jerry Clayton released a 10-minute video and a press release. Both attacked those in the County who have expressed concern at the County Commissioners’ funding of a non-profit populated by felons to “mentor” other felons, to register voters, to do work in schools, to mentor children (including children with mental illness), and to work with children unsupervised in after school activities at Parkridge Park in Ypsilanti.

“Recently, several loud voices are pushing back against the concept of community-based peers with lived experience working to save lives through the anti-violence movement,” wrote Clayton in his press release. “This push back is short-sighted, irresponsible, and contrary to the national emerging best practice strategies for dealing with the epidemic of violent crime.”

“The Sheriff’s video and his press release are a joke,” said lawyer Doug Winters. Winters knew the EMU grad who was bound, gagged and shot three times (twice in the head), by Supreme Felons, Inc. president Billy Cole. Cole is currently on parole until August 2023.

While Sheriff Clayton in his Nov. 1 press release asserts that Supreme Felons, Inc. has been “dealing with the epidemic of violent crime,” this claim is not supported by crime data reported by the Sheriff’s Dept. to the Michigan State Police. Violent crime has risen sharply during the time the Sheriff alleges Supreme Felons, Inc. has been “dealing with the epidemic.” Murders reported within the Sheriff’s jurisdiction rose 140 percent between 2019-2021. Weapons crimes rose over 160 percent, from 55 in 2019 to 187 in 2021.

Moreover, a complete list of Clayton’s outreach workers provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed one outreach worker who, while employed by the Sheriff and on the County payroll, was arrested and charged with felony weapons crimes. Willie Sturdivant, Jr. worked conducting outreach and “mentoring” felons between Oct. 2016 and March 2022. MDOC records show that Sturdivant is currently serving a sentence in a maximum security facility for felonious assault and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was charged in Nov. of 2020 and sentenced (in Wayne County). His earliest release date is March of 2025.

The Sheriff’s Nov. 1 press release deflected from the allegations of negligence on the part of county staff and county commissioners: “Larger than the vitriol directed towards one individual, the allegations of impropriety of a particular organization, or even concern over a single county commission decision, this debate is about the fundamental belief in redemption. That is, do we believe formerly justice involved individuals should be restored to the community? And who do we believe should inhabit the space of serving as alternative responders?”

Former Superior Twp. Treasurer Brenda McKinney says she has “nothing to hide.”

McKinney told The Ann Arbor Independent that none of the County Commissioners appointed to the review group (Sue Shink, Caroline Sanders, Justin Hodge, Ricky Jefferson) attended any of the three-hour weekly meetings held between May-Oct. 2022. At those meetings, the grant proposals were read, discussed and scored.

When told that Supreme Felons, Inc. was co-incorporated and currently registered to a murderer on parole and a registered sex offender, and that the proposal included felons “pushing-into” schools and mentoring children unsupervised outside of school, McKinney expressed shock.

“We did not look into the proposals,” said McKinney. “County staff did that. We scored them.”

County Residents Want to Know Who Is Responsible for Funding the Fraudulent Grant Proposal

Washtenaw County residents are demanding to know how and why a non-profit controlled by a murderer on parole and a registered sex offender was approved for $1.2 million in funding after having been “thoroughly vetted” by four senior county staffers and all nine of the Washtenaw County Commissioners.

Among questions posted to public groups such as NextDoor, Facebook, Reddit, and in emails to The Ann Arbor Independent, county residents have repeatedly asked who recommended funding the Supreme Felons, Inc. proposal full of fabrications, omissions and outright lies.

In response to public anger and outcry, on social media, Tajalli Hodge, an elected official in Ypsilanti Township (Parks Commission), and wife of Washtenaw County Commissioner Justin Hodge, publicly blamed four Black women citizen volunteers and the four county senior staffers for recommending a $1.2 million dollar grant to Supreme Felons, Inc.

The four citizen appointees whom Commissioner Hodge’s wife has said are responsible for the lack of oversight and the scandal surrounding the fraudulent ARPA fund grant are: Hazelette Crosby-Robinson, Shayla A. Fletcher, Patricia McGee and retired Superior Twp. Treasurer Brenda McKinney.

Tajalli Hodge wrote on a public local politics Facebook page: “Thankfully, the county has intense oversight over these ARPA dollars.”

Nicole Beverly is the head of the Enough Initiative, a non-profit with a mission to curb domestic violence, including dating violence among teens in Washtenaw County. While Tajalli Hodge alleges “intense oversight over ARPA dollars,” Beverly disagrees. She said: “Apparently the data requested showing effectiveness of current programs wasn’t a major determining factor of who received grants and for how much. It’s all very confusing and frustrating. Hoping we receive more clarity for how the decisions were made for funding community organizations.”

“We saw the proposals,” explained McKinney, “but we were never given any information about the background of applicants [by the county staffers]. We were given a lot of applications,” added McKinney, who could not say whether they had been given all of the 137 applications submitted. “We met weekly by Zoom and scored the applications. We did not vette the applications. That was done before the applications were given to us.”

McKinney, when asked, had no idea who had vetted the proposals before they were given to her. She had no idea that the four senior county staffers controlling the citizen review group had also scrutinized the grant proposals.

Former Ypsilanti Twp. Trustee Monica Ross-Williams is a former employee of the Michigan Dept. of Corrections. She sees a more complicated picture that, she says, looks to her very much like it could be a RICO case. “These people are giving this non-profit money to ‘register’ voters? To ‘help’ with elections? What? Trying to fix elections…That’s RICO. This whole mess of a grant process needs to be investigated.”

One Sheriff’s Dept. source who asked to remain anonymous said: “Follow the money. Derrick Jackson has the Sheriff’s backing. Jackson is running for Sheriff, and there is a direct connection between Supreme Felons and Jackson. It’s a gang, an army of thugs.”

More than one Sheriff’s Dept. employee alleged that part of the $1.2 million will be kicked back to Derrick Jackson. There is, as of yet, no evidence of this; as of Oct. 25, no money had been released to Supreme Felons, Inc.

Lawyer Doug Winters said, “I looked at the State incorporation documents. They’ve claimed that because Billy Rae Cole is the registered agent, Alan Fuqua is out of the picture. Baloney. If that $1.2 million is released, it will be legally controlled by both Fuqua and Cole.”

A source within the Sheriff’s Dept. said, “Think about it. County staff helped a fraudulent grant proposal jammed with bold-faced lies to get over a million in funding. There is no doubt in my mind that county staff will overlook fraudulent record keeping submitted by Supreme Felons after they get the money. Washtenaw County is dirty. Our department is dirty. The Sheriff, Derrick Jackson and Supreme Felons? Connect the dots.”

Among Derrick Jackson’s friends on Facebook is registered sex offender Alan K. Fuqua. Another of Fuqua’s Facebook friends is Sheriff Clayton’s Executive Administrator Kathy Wyatt.

In April 2020, while he was still in prison, Fuqua incorporated Supreme Felons, Inc. and signed the application.

Another connection between Derrick Jackson and Supreme Felons, Inc. is Billy Cole. In the Supreme Felons, Inc. grant proposal, Cole is identified as the non-profit’s “president.” Cole was hired by the Sheriff’s Dept. as a “Temporary Law Enforcement Officer,” in 2020. Cole is supervised by Sheriff’s Dept. employees Derrick Jackson (Director of Community Engagement) and Jackson’s colleague, Marvin Gundy. (Community Outreach Coordinator).

Gundy is currently under investigation by the Michigan AG’s office for witness tampering/witness intimidation related to a shooting. The AG’s office refused to release and details about the investigation of Gundy.

Craig Lounsbury lives in Ann Arbor. In a comment in response to the award of the grant to Supreme Felons, Inc. he said, “The level of corruption in local Government is becoming a bit depressing.”

Monica Ross-Williams has described “feeling sickened” at the prospect of unsupervised felons, including registered sex offenders, being given $1.2 million in public money to offer after school programs in Ypsilanti’s Parkridge Park.

In his Oct. 25 press release, Dill also wrote, “In light of the ongoing inquiries around the Board approval of Community Priority Fund recommendation to Supreme Felons, Inc. and in response to the discussion at the Board table at last evening’s meeting, my team and I have prepared the following update to help frame responses to community member requests….Supreme Felons, Inc. has not signed a service agreement (contract) yet and has not been issued any funds from their award.“

Marshall Averill is a resident of Ypsilanti Twp. and a graduate student at MSU in the Masters of Public Policy program. He is working on a project focusing on local-level funding of grassroots non-profits. He examined the Supreme Felons, Inc. proposal and one other proposal submitted for ARPA funding of $191,000 (that did not receive funding from Washtenaw County).

Averill said, “It seems to me like Washtenaw County fumbled this process majorly by watering down the RFP. It’s clear that both King County, WA and Buncombe County, NC, for example, have similar goals with equity-based social service grants, but have set a much higher standard for their applicants.”