Bennett faced a maximum 20 years behind bars. Prosecutors asked for 7½ years, in part because she had agreed to cooperate shortly after her arrest The defense asked for a 3½-year sentence.
Chang said he also factored in Byrd-Bennett’s age and how she had revitalized schools in different cities over her 40-year career. And he noted what he described as her quiet acts of kindness, including helping to pay for the funerals of some students.
Co-defendants, SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates owners Gary Solomon and Thomas Vranas, also pleaded guilty to related charges. Chang sentenced Solomon to seven years in prison last month; Vranas received an 18-month sentence earlier Friday.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hired Byrd-Bennett five years ago, vowing to revitalize a school district criticized for low student performance. As CEO, Byrd-Bennett oversaw the shuttering of dozens of schools in a money-saving measure
Byrd-Bennett said in court Friday that she had become overwhelmed as the head of CPS, recalling how parents yelled at her for closing their neighborhood schools and accused her of putting their kids in peril by forcing them to walk to new schools farther away.
When scrutiny of district contracts grew in 2013, Byrd-Bennett began deleting potentially incriminating emails, according to prosecutors. She resigned in June 2015, as word spread of an investigation.
In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in 2015, prosecutors agreed to drop 19 other counts of fraud charged in the original indictment.