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Press Release

Former Bookkeeper For The Pinckneyville Rural Fire Protection District Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Illinois

Tammy L. Kellerman, 53, of Pinckneyville, Illinois, the former bookkeeper for the Pinckneyville Rural Fire Protection District (PRFPD), pled guilty today in United States District Court in Benton to a four-count information charging her with defrauding that municipal entity, announced James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. The information to which Kellerman pled guilty alleged that between 2004 and 2013, Kellerman used her trusted position with PRFPD to steal over $450,000 in PRFPD funds. Throughout that time period Kellerman regularly used the United States mail to send unauthorized checks drawn on PRFPD’s bank account to pay her personal credit card bills and other expenses and, thereafter, made false entries in PRFPD’s accounting software to conceal her thefts.

Sentencing was set for May 24, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., at the United States District Courthouse in Benton. On each count Kellerman faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release to follow any term of incarceration imposed. Kellerman will also be required to make full restitution to PRFPD. Kellerman will remain on bond pending sentencing.

The investigation leading to the charges and guilty plea was a cooperative effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Illinois State Police, the Criminal Investigations Division of the Illinois Department of Revenue, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.

Updated February 3, 2016

Topic
Financial Fraud