Former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell Sentenced
By: Robert Burke
Updated: February 15, 2013
Dixon's former comptroller Rita Crundwell was sentenced today in Rockford Federal Court for stealing more than $53 million from the city.
Crundwell was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in federal prison. With good conduct, she'll likely serve until she's 77 years old.Crundwell gave a brief, tearful apology saying, "I'm truly sorry to the City of Dixon, my family and my friends."
She's also ordered to pay a full restitution of 53.7 million. The judge revoked Crundwell's bond and she was placed in handcuff and taken out of court.
Through FBI testimony, it was learned that Crundwell was inspired to start stealing money so that she could afford to buy a champion horse named Sheza Telusive Kid.
She admitted to embezzling the money by pleading guilty to wire fraud in November. She still faces 60 separate state felony charges - for which she's pleaded not guilty -- for theft in Lee County.
Crundwell's public defender claimed that she'd cooperated with investigators and should receive a lenient prison sentence.













