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Former Dixon comptroller – who stole $54M – on Biden’s clemency list
WGN News ^ | Dec 12, 2024 | en Bradley

Posted on 12/13/2024 4:09:37 AM PST by george76

Biden's largest act of clemency includes Rita Crundwell..

DIXON, Ill. — Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to nearly 1,500 people Thursday is getting attention because it’s the largest act of clemency by any president.

It’s being received differently in Dixon, Illinois. That’s because Rita Crundwell’s name is on the list.

Crundwell pled guilty to stealing millions dollars from taxpayers in the largest municipal heist in U.S. history. Covid sent her home from prison early; but now Dixon residents have learned she won’t go back.

Crundwell was a humble public servant by day, but lived large in almost every other part of her life. A 20-year fraud on her hometown of Dixon, Illinois total $54 million.

Now, another gut punch for the people of Dixon. Crundwell’s name is on the list of people granted clemency means her punishment is over.

Danny Langloss is the city manager in Dixon and was Dixon’s police chief when Crundwell’s crime was exposed.

“We’re just shocked, outraged and as a community we feel betrayed by the justice system and by the president,” he said. “She pleaded guilty to a very serious crime and got the maximum but served 8 years. What message does that send to the victims, to our community and people across the country who think about doing something like this?”

Crundwell was a world-class horseman with a stable and possessions worthy of a queen. She left the impression she served as Dixon’s comptroller to give back. The charade crumbled in 2012.

Then in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, WGN Investigates obtained this handwritten letter to the judge begging to be released.

“With my deteriorating health condition and the danger of the Covid 19 pandemic, I feel like I have been given a death sentence,”

The judge denied release but the following year the Bureau of Prisons put her on home confinement even though she had only served less than half her sentence.

Former US Marshal Jason Wojdylo met with Crundwell in prison several times as he worked to sell her assets.

“She conveyed to me more of a sense of disgust that she had been sentenced that long,” he said back in 2021. “She was very visibly shaken by the fact she was serving a nearly 20 year sentence.”

Crundwell has been out of jail on home monitoring since 2021.

The grant of clemency means there’s now no possibility she can be required to return to prison to finish the sentence that wasn’t supposed to end until 2029.

Li Arellano is the former mayor of Dixon.

Through the sale of her assets and proceeds from a lawsuit, Dixon taxpayers recovered $40 million of the $54 million dollars she stole.

The White House Press Secretary released a statement that reads, “The President is commuting the sentences of 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: bidencrimewave; dixon; failedpresidency; illinois

1 posted on 12/13/2024 4:09:37 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

Typical democrat.

At least she got caught.

How many others are out there?


2 posted on 12/13/2024 4:28:57 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: george76

https://youtu.be/RXSZhKEddxI?si=TJJA0PL-VxK8rMLz

Excellent documentary on the whole sordid Crundwell rip-off: “All the Queen’s Horses”


3 posted on 12/13/2024 4:29:20 AM PST by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't. )
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To: george76

Maybe Rita gave THE BIG GUY 10%!


4 posted on 12/13/2024 4:30:22 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: george76

The check for Joe’s 10% must have cleared.


5 posted on 12/13/2024 4:38:58 AM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: george76

Im sure there is a list of those who are directly involved with the corrupt family


6 posted on 12/13/2024 4:45:53 AM PST by ronnie raygun
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To: george76

Im sure there is a list of those who are directly involved with the corrupt family


7 posted on 12/13/2024 4:45:53 AM PST by ronnie raygun
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To: texas booster

She got caught because they wanted her to get caught. Nothing happens without the approval of the Combine in IL. It’s the Combine that needs to get busted.


8 posted on 12/13/2024 5:06:35 AM PST by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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To: george76

Some tax payer in Dixon is gonna get a gut full when they lose their home for unpaid taxes, and that broad is living large on hidden assets. I’ll wait for the headline.


9 posted on 12/13/2024 7:18:16 AM PST by healy61 (.)
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To: george76

HOW much did she pay JOE???


10 posted on 12/13/2024 8:17:44 AM PST by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: T-Bird45

Amazing video.

Thank.

Head Shake.


11 posted on 12/13/2024 8:26:42 AM PST by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: george76

OMG! Thanks for posting this.


12 posted on 12/13/2024 10:09:02 AM PST by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
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To: george76
Former Dixon comptroller – who stole $54M – on Biden’s clemency list

10% for "The Big Guy" = $5.4M

Not bad for a few seconds signing a piece of paper.

13 posted on 12/13/2024 10:22:29 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: george76

Reagan’s birthplace


14 posted on 12/13/2024 5:28:54 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: virgil

She got caught the way most of these large embezzling scum get caught. They leave on vacation and something comes up at the office and their co-worker has to solve it. When they start looking they find irregularities and dig a little deeper. Presto chango they get busted.

Its usually AP accounts for fake vendors or payroll for non existent employees.


15 posted on 12/13/2024 5:39:14 PM PST by shotgun
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