Illinois corruption 7/25/12: Embezzler gets three year prison sentence

For today's Illinois corruption update we venture to the Metro East area near St. Louis. Compared to the alleged thefts in Dixon in Lee County--$53 million--it seems to be small potatoes. But $143,000 is still a lot of money.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A Wood River woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the city government between January 2007 and August 2011 when she was the city's assistant finance director.

Authorities said Leslie Dona stole about $143,000 by altering software and manipulating funds and reports to conceal checks she was issuing to herself. Now 42, Dona has been jailed since her arrest in September 2011.

Dona was charged with theft of more than $100,000 but pleaded guilty of a reduced charge of theft of $10,000 to $100,000 in return for a three-year prison sentence. She could have received a sentence of three to seven years' imprisonment.

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