Arrests

Brian Metcalf, 52, a former Chicago school principal, has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud charges.

Published

48 minutes ago

on

August 20, 2026

Chicago Public Schools building exterior.

A Chicago Public Schools building. (Google Maps)

Brian Metcalf was trusted to lead Chicago schools. Instead, he spent nearly a decade using that trust to steal from them.

On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced him to prison for it.

How the Scheme Worked

Metcalf held leadership positions at school systems in both Chicago and Indianapolis, as well as a nonprofit organization.

During that time, he and his accomplice Kimberly Maddox, 55, of Matteson, Illinois, ran a simple but effective fraud.

They told the schools and the nonprofit that Maddox or her spouse was providing services. No services were ever actually provided.

The schools paid anyway.

Over nearly ten years, those payments added up to nearly $700,000, which Maddox and Metcalf split between themselves.

The Third Man

A consultant named James Darnell Campbell, 59, of Frankfort, Illinois, eventually approached Metcalf and asked to get in on the scheme.

By that point, Metcalf had moved on to lead a school system in Indianapolis as superintendent.

Metcalf arranged for the Indianapolis schools to pay Campbell nearly $400,000 for consulting work that was never done. Campbell and Metcalf divided that money between themselves as well.

The Sentences

All three defendants pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges before U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins.

Metcalf was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in federal prison.

Maddox was sentenced last month to two years in federal prison.

Campbell was sentenced last month to a year and a day in federal prison.

All three were ordered to jointly repay $1,099,200 to the institutions they defrauded.

CPS Inspector General Responded

Chicago Public Schools Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht said administrators who exploit their positions to enrich themselves while depriving CPS families of critical resources will not be tolerated and that investigators remain committed to rooting out fraud and corruption in the school district.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Chang and announced by United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros.