"Back to Fool" — M.L. Elrick, Detroit Free Press (Aug 2023)
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The Article
It’s Back to Fool at a Detroit school with a former felon as principal — M.L. Elrick, Detroit Free Press, August 27, 2023
Elrick documented that MacDowell Preparatory Academy’s board hired Brian Banks as principal despite 8 felony convictions, unpaid debts, campaign finance violations, and active debt collection. The board chairwoman, Nicole Wells Stallworth, refused interviews but issued a statement calling Banks “well qualified.”
What the Public Record Adds
Elrick’s investigation broke the story. This evidence library extends it by mapping the full network that made it possible:
| What Elrick Reported | What We Document |
|---|---|
| Banks has 8 felony convictions | Brian Banks — full OTIS record with 9 convictions (6 felony), case numbers, sentencing details |
| Wells Stallworth defended the hire | Nicole Wells Stallworth — board chair, connections to Banks across multiple entities |
| Banks got an admin cert in 2 days | Credential Audit — the claimed J.D. (State Bar: zero results), the Walden Ph.D., the 48-hour certification |
| “No one in charge wants to talk” | Network Map — 73 entities, 122 connections showing why no one talks: they’re all connected |
The Network Elrick Couldn’t Map in One Column
Elrick’s column raised the right questions. A newspaper column has 800 words. This evidence library has 200+ pages because the network is that large:
- Campaign finance: Banks → Yancey, Gay-Dagnogo, Miller — traced through CFRS disclosures
- Judicial connections: The judges who appear in Banks-adjacent cases are mapped in the judicial network
- Entity structure: MacDowell, Purpose Charter Academy, The Purpose Group, Sun Community Development — shell entity analysis
- The RICO pattern: How individual facts compose into 14+ years of continuity
For Readers Coming from the Free Press
If Elrick’s column brought you here, start with:
- Site Index — everything in one list
- RICO Pattern — how the pieces fit together
- Verify Everything — check every claim yourself