by P.D. Lesko
On Nov. 21, 2024 the Ann Arbor Independent filed suit in the Washtenaw County 22nd Circuit Court against Supreme Felons, Inc. In Sept. of 2024, the newspaper submitted two Freedom of Information Act requests to Supreme Felons, Inc. for a variety of financial records, including pay and tax records. The non-profit lost its 501(c)3 status for failing to file its federal income taxes for three years running. The IRS reinstated the non-profit status retroactive to the date it was revoked. IRS records show that Supreme Felons, Inc. once again failed to submit 990 federal income tax returns (2023 return). Since Jan. 2023, Supreme Felons, Inc. has requested and been given over $827,000 from the county’s Community Priority Fund.
In July of 2022, the newspaper obtained the non-profit’s grant application and reported on the many fabrications in the application. Until Aug. 2024, the Community Priority Fund (and its applications) was overseen by Alize Asberry Payne, the County’s former DEI Dept. Dir. In early 2024, the newspaper obtained public records that showed Asberry-Payne had fabricated portions of both her education and work histories. In addition, when she applied for the position with the County, she was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a California Superior Court in relation to a case involving financial crimes.
In September, the newspaper was given information and records that purport Supreme Felons, Inc. is little more than a criminal enterprise and that its President Billy Cole has systematically looted public funds for his personal gain and the personal gain of others. The allegations included one that drug addicts are recruited to work in the Supreme Felons, Inc. “neighborhood watch” program. Those individuals are then paid with gift cards and/or illegal drugs. Monthly, signed requisition forms submitted by Cole for money from the County’s Community Priority Fund show funds requested to pay unnamed individuals working as neighborhood watch staff.
In order to corroborate the allegations of the insiders, the newspaper submitted two Freedom of Information Act requests to Supreme Felons, Inc. Cole, while on parole from a life sentence for the execution-murder of EMU graduate Mark Simpson, along with a registered sex offender named Alan K. Fuqua, who was still in prison, co-founded Supreme Felons, Inc. in 2020. Documents shared with the newspaper in 2024 revealed that Derrick Jackson and Marvin Gundy, two community engagement employees in the Sheriff’s Dept., control Supreme Felons, Inc. Jackson, who had impersonated a licensed social worker for years, ran for Sheriff in 2024 and lost.
The newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act requests included asking for copies of audits, 1099s and W-2s issued to Supreme Felon contract employees and full-time staff, including Cole. In addition, the newspaper asked for copies of the non-profit’s quarterly tax returns that would include the total amount paid to employees and the total amount withheld to pay federal and state taxes on a quarterly basis throughout 2023.
Supreme Felons, Inc. President Billy Cole, in an email, said the non-profit’s “legal advisor” is Robert Burton-Harris. Burton-Harris is the husband of the County’s Chief Asst. Prosecutor Victoria Burton-Harris. Victoria Burton-Harris has been a public supporter of Supreme Felons, Inc., appearing at rallies and in photos with Billy Cole. Victoria Burton-Harris, according to the Supreme Felins, Inc. insiders in their allegations, is aware that Supreme Felons, Inc. is a criminal enterprise.
In an email, Robert Burton-Harris claimed the non-profit is not subject to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Language from the Act states that non-profits which receive the majority of funding from government grants are, indeed, subject to the Act.
The case was assigned to the Honorable Timothy P. Connors, but Judge Connors is slated to retire in January 2025. This means Judge Connors’ docket will be reassigned by Chief Judge Patrick J. Conlin, Jr.
Robert Burton-Harris has not yet replied to the newspaper’s Complaint, served on Nov. 23. 2024. Burton-Harris has 21 days to respond. The newspaper used its FOIA Fund to file the lawsuit. That Fund is supported by the newspaper’s readers.
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