Boone County Employee Charged with Theft

BELVIDERE - A former Boone County Deputy Circuit Clerk is arrested after being charged with stealing money from the county over a two year period.    

"These thefts occurred from the Circuit Clerks office," said Boone County State's Attorney Michelle Courier.

Courier says 56-year-old Donna Osoria, a former Boone County Deputy Circuit Clerk, stole up to 100-thousand dollars.  She is charged with 1 count of theft and 1 count of official misconduct.  The theft charge is being classified as a felony because money was taken from a government agency.

"She's looking at potential, of the theft charge that we charged, between 4 to 15 years and the official misconduct between 2 and 5 years in the department of corrections," said Courier.

Courier says the thefts took place between spring of 2010 and June 22nd of this year.  The same day Osoria left her job after working for the Boone County Circuit Clerks office for 12 years.

"Official misconduct is actually the first official misconduct that I've prosecuted since I've been State's Attorney," said Courier.

Few details about the investigation or how officials learned about the thefts are being released, but we do know that an auditor helped in the process of bringing these charges against Osoria.

"It's fair to say that the auditor was involved," said Courier.

The case is very similar to the Rita Crundwell case in Dixon, and courier says Crundwell's arrest this spring motivated Boone County to look at ways to protect and prevent employee thefts, but wouldn't say if that helped lead to Osoria's arrest.

"That's something that the county uses to decrease the chance that a theft occurs," said Courier.

Osoria was arrested Tuesday night at her home.  She pleaded not guilty to the charges at a status hearing Wednesday morning.  She will likely be back in court on October 12^th for a bond reduction hearing.