Metro-East Businessman Sentenced in Conspiracy to Defraud the City of East St. Louis and Money Laundering

Stephen L. Carraway, 50, of Cahokia, Illinois, was sentenced to a total term of imprisonment of 36 months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and two years of supervised release for the offenses of conspiracy to defraud the city of East St. Louis’ Demolition Program and engaging in a monetary transaction over $10,000 in property derived from specified unlawful activity, in addition to a supervised release revocation for a previous controlled substance conviction, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Carraway received a sentence of 30 months in prison on the new offenses and received a consecutive six month sentence of incarceration on the supervised release revocation.

Stephen L. Carraway owned and operated Steve’s Hauling Inc., an Illinois corporation with its principle place of business in the City of East St. Louis. Steve’s Hauling provided demolition services to the city of East St. Louis. The convictions are the result of Carraway’s conduct in 2010 when he made a cash payment in the form of a kickback to a city of East St. Louis official in order to receive an emergency demolition contract from the city of East St. Louis. Carraway was told how much to bid in order to be awarded the contract. Carraway thereafter submitted a falsified certificate of insurance in the bid proposal when he did not have an existing liability insurance policy in effect.

The investigation was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations with the cooperation of the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office. The prosecution of the case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Norman R. Smith.