(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — In the biggest single-day act of clemency, President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of a former Dixon comptroller who stole more than $50 million from the village.
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Rita Crundwell was sentenced to prison eleven years ago after being convicted of stealing nearly $54 million from the village of Dixon in northwest Illinois.
Prosecutors said Crundwell stole the money to bankroll her horse farm. Crundwell also owned two homes in Dixon, a home in Florida, 80 acres of land in Lee County, a luxury motor home, a sports car, jewelry and more.
Crundwell was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, but was released early in 2021. It was a move that confused Dixon residents and their mayor at the time.
When she was released, Dixon’s then mayor Liandro Arellano said the village was able to recoup around $40 million.
Crundwell was serving out the rest of her sentence in a halfway house in Downers Grove. She was scheduled to be released in 2029.
Biden also commuted the sentence of businessman Eric Bloom, who federal prosecutors say cheated investors out of more than $665 million.
Among the 39 who have been pardoned is an Illinois woman. Diana Bazan Villanueva, 51, of La Grange was convicted in her 20s of a non-violent drug offense.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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