An appeals court has decided to uphold a nearly 20-year prison sentence for former Dixon Comptroller Rita Cundwell.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided on Friday, November 15, 2013 that the 235-month prison sentence Crundwell is currently serving should stand.
Crundwell was the Comptroller of the City of Dixon since 1983, and according to the appellate court, she embezzled about $53 million from the city between 1990 and 2012. She pleaded guilty to the charges and in February of 2013 Judge Philip Reinhard sentenced Crundwell to 235 months in prison.
The appeals court said in a written statement that Reinhard allowed Crundwell to show evidence and share arguments and that the judge “pronounced a substantively reasonable sentence.”