A former bookkeeper for a Metro East school pleaded guilty in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois on charges she embezzled money intended for the district’s activities fund.
Linda J. Johnson, 58, of Waterloo, faced three counts of theft from Dupo Community Unit School District 196, where she worked.
“Stealing funds from student activities directly deprives children of opportunities within their extracurriculars,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “Although the defendant tried to conceal her crime from school officials by preparing two sets of records, her deceit was discovered, and she will be held accountable.”
The loss to the school district is $135,566.80.
According to a plea agreement, Johnson must pay reparations in the amount of $67,617.37 to the Dupo school district and $68,000 to the Ohio State casualty company.
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27, 2025. She faces up to 10 years in a federal prison and fines up to $250,000, according to a release from the federal court.
According to records in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Johnson was a “long-term” employee of District 196, working in the superintendent’s office. She was employed by District 196 from 1993 to 2022, the BND confirmed at the time of Johnson’s criminal indictment.
Criminal charges say she handled payroll, bookkeeping and making bank transactions. Carpenter said “discrepancies in certain district fund accounts and deposits” handled by Johnson were noticed in October of 2022 and the board of education initiated an investigation.
The Dupo Board of Education referred the matter to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Dupo superintendent Kelly Carpenter said.
According to the federal indictment, the district held an activities account at Commerce Bank for funds intended for use with student clubs, after-school programs, yearbook, cheerleading, dance, sports teams and other things.
Johnson is accused of not depositing the full amount of money received for those activities and, instead, prepared phony deposit slips that omitted cash donations, which she allegedly kept for herself, the criminal charges state.
Because the Dupo school district receives grants and other benefits from the U.S. government, the alleged embezzlement is being prosecuted as a federal crime.
The FBI Springfield Field Office and the Dupo Police Department are leading the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Weinhoeft is prosecuting the case.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Carolyn P. Smith is a reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
