Biden commutes sentence of official who stole $53 million from small city

President Biden made historical past Thursday when he commuted prison sentences of almost 1,500 individuals and granted 49 pardons, the biggest single-day act of clemency in fashionable historical past.

Within the sweeping transfer, Biden slashed a number of years from the sentence of the particular person convicted of the biggest municipal embezzlement in U.S. historical past, angering the present leaders of the small city she stole from.

President Biden speaks on the Nationwide Affiliation of Counties Legislative Convention in Washington, DC, Monday, February 12, 2024. Biden commuted the sentences of Rita Crundwell and almost 1,500 others this week. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos / Getty Photos)

Among the many inmates launched by Biden who had been positioned on home arrest through the COVID-19 pandemic was Rita Crundwell, the previous controller of Dixon, Illinois, who was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to almost 20 years in jail for steal nearly $54 million of the city of 15,000 inhabitants over 20 years.

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Crundwell, now 71, admitted to embezzling funds from the city of Dixon whereas she was comptroller, utilizing the stolen funds to assist a lavish way of life, which included financing her horse breeding, the acquisition of real estateand buying greater than 4 dozen autos and a luxurious camper van.

Former Dixon, Sick. city controller Rita Crundwell turns away as her legal professional speaks briefly with the media after Crundwell pleaded responsible in federal court docket in Rockford, Sick., Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 Crundwell stole greater than $53 million. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/MCT/Getty Photos)

Crundwell was scheduled to serve 85 p.c of her sentence, which might have stored her in jail till October 20, 2029, in keeping with CBS Information. However she was launched to accommodate arrest early on August 4, 2021, the place she remained till Biden commuted her sentence this week.

“The City of Dixon is shocked and outraged by the announcement that President Biden “It is a complete travesty of justice and a slap within the face for our whole neighborhood.”

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“Though as we speak’s information is unimaginable, the town of Dixon is in an unimaginable state of affairs as we speak,” Langlossa added. “We’ll proceed to concentrate on the longer term and work to capitalize on the momentum now we have created.”