![]() ![]() "She even paid for a mariachi band at a horse show," Pedersen said. He said she criss-crossed the nation attending horse shows and acting every bit the wealthy horse owner, while Dixon had to borrow $3 million to pay city bills. Pedersen described Crundwell's "extravagant lifestyle" and showed the judge pictures of expensive vehicles, boats and jewelry. ![]() Attorney Joseph Pederson said Crundwell "callously sat quietly at budget meetings year after year while the city had to make painful cuts." "She saw city employees every day that had gone over two years without raises because of her theft."Īssistant U.S. "She drove on the streets that didn't get repaired or replaced because of her theft," Mayor Jim Burke told the judge. Officials in Dixon remain baffled by Crundwell's scheme, which averaged more than $5 million a year during the last few years. He said Crundwell told him repeatedly the city simply did not have the money. Michael Stichter, longtime superintendent of Dixon's streets department, said miles of roadway could not be resurfaced and aging vehicles could not be replaced. Police didn't get radio equipment, and there wasn't enough money to mow the grass at the cemetery. Heads of various departments took turns describing how Crundwell's scheme devastated the city, forcing them to put off needed repairs and equipment purchases. ![]() Before she got her turn in court, she had to listen to people testify about the damage she had done. "You showed a much greater passion for the welfare of your horses than you did for the people of Dixon, who you represented," the judge said before imposing a sentence that means Crundwell will not be eligible for release until she is 77 years old.Ĭrundwell's apology marked the first time she spoke publicly about her massive theft. "I am truly sorry to the city of Dixon, to my family and my friends," Crundwell said in court, her voice quivering.įor more than two decades as comptroller for Dixon, a northern Illinois community best known for being the site of Ronald Reagan's boyhood home, Crundwell siphoned city funds to pay for properties, vacations, luxury cars and a horse-breeding operation that became nationally renowned. She tearfully apologized in the Rockford federal courtroom. She was handcuffed and led away sobbing after he ordered her into custody immediately, saying he was concerned she could have money hidden and flee.Ĭrundwell, 60, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for embezzling money from the city of Dixon from 1991 until her arrest last April. District Judge Philip Reinhard told Rita Crundwell, as he sentenced her to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison - just shy of the maximum 20 years. "You stole an astronomical amount of money from the city, you crippled the city," U.S. A former city bookkeeper was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Thursday for embezzling more than $53 million from her Illinois community, in what ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state's corruption-rich history. Her thievery ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state’s corruption-rich history.Ĭrundwell previously served prison time in Minnesota and at a federal medical center in Texas before she was sent to Pekin earlier this month.ROCKFORD, Ill. Crundwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to stealing the money over two decades to support a lavish lifestyle and a nationally renowned horse-breeding operation. Sauk Valley Media reports the 65-year-old former Dixon comptroller is now housed in the Pekin Federal Correctional Institution, about 100 miles south of the northern Illinois city. (AP) _ Convicted $54 million municipal embezzler Rita Crundwell has been transferred to a federal prison in her home state of Illinois. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. ![]()
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