Chicago CPS Fraud: Former Principal Brian Metcalf Sentenced to Federal Prison

Former CPS leader receives prison term in $1.1 million false-invoice case

CHICAGO, Illinois — Former Chicago Public Schools principal and network chief Brian Metcalf has been sentenced to a year and one day in federal prison for his role in a nearly decade-long wire fraud scheme that stole more than $1 million from school networks and nonprofit institutions, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins imposed the sentence Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Metcalf previously served as principal of Gage Park High School and Field Elementary School and later worked as a CPS network chief.

Metcalf was ordered to pay restitution as part of the case, alongside former CPS vendor Kimberly Maddox and consultant James Campbell. The three defendants are collectively responsible for $1,099,200 in restitution to the schools and organizations affected by the fraud, authorities said.

False invoices covered services never delivered

Prosecutors said Metcalf and Maddox operated the CPS portion of the scheme from 2012 through 2017. The pair submitted invoices for services that were not actually provided, including grant-writing training and counseling related to student financial aid. After the district paid the invoices, Metcalf and Maddox divided the proceeds, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The fraudulent CPS invoices generated $88,500, prosecutors said. The case later broadened to include a substantially larger scheme involving Tindley Accelerated Schools in Indiana, where Metcalf became chief executive officer after leaving CPS in 2018.

Metcalf led Tindley from 2019 to 2022. In 2025, he and Maddox admitted that they employed the same false-billing strategy at the charter school network, collecting nearly $1 million through invoices for work that was not performed, authorities said.

Campbell joined the operation after the fraud had already begun in Indiana, prosecutors said. He was also sentenced to a year and one day in prison. Maddox received a two-year federal prison sentence last month.

Inspector general says theft from schools will face consequences

The case has drawn renewed attention to oversight of public-school spending and outside vendors, particularly because the alleged conduct involved education funds intended to support students and families. The Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General issued a report earlier this year that detailed additional information about the defendants’ fraud activity.

“Administrators who use their position to enrich themselves and deprive CPS families of critical resources will not be tolerated, and neither will vendors who steal from CPS,” Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht said in a statement Thursday.

Metcalf, Maddox and Campbell have now all been sentenced in the federal case. The restitution order remains in effect, requiring the defendants to repay the institutions they defrauded.