Kirk Allen and John Kraft are co-founders of the Edgar County Watchdogs. Both men have documented a number of cases where official investigations of government employees have shown cause for prosecution of crimes and where the employee has been allowed to just move on and get away with felony theft.
I asked Kirk for a top ten recent list of just such non-prosecution. Here is what he wrote:
Cases where there have not been any prosecution of theft of funds/time even though all indications they are guilty of the allegation.
Laywers:
- Lauren McQueen – She admitted to “engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation by conduct including knowingly using a total of $8,312.72 in funds belonging to the Champaign County Bar Association.” https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2024/12/edgar-county-assistant-states-attorney-admits-to-theft-from-bar-association/?highlight=%22Bar%20Association%22
She is still listed as the Assistant States Attorney In Edgar County! No criminal charges anywhere yet.
- Debra Rieley – Attorney fo DCFS, later became administrative law JUDGE – Working at a private bank full time while also collecting her paycheck from the state. ZERO prosecution even though the OEIG reports proved everything. She is a practicing attorney in Shelby County, former State’s Attorney. https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2025/04/shelby-county-is-anyone-surprised/ NO PROSECUTION
- Mr. Omoniyi is an attorney who has been registered with the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission since 1996. The registration reflects that he practices law at the Law Firm 1]10 According to its website, the [Law Firm 1] is in Chicago and has represented clients in litigation matters since 1996.11 Mr. Omoniyi’s ICC personnel file did not contain any disclosures of outside employment. From the OEIG report – Adegbola Omoniyi violated the Public Utilities Act, Illinois Administrative Code, and ICC Employee Manual when he accepted employment and payment from [Business 1], an entity subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC; participated in business being transacted with the ICC by [Business 1]; failed to disclose a private interest that conflicted or appeared to conflict with his ICC duties and responsibilities; and failed to immediately notify his supervisor and disqualify himself from official ICC action related to [Business 1]. He retired, no action taken https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/22-00458-released-redacted-summary-report-omoniyi-07.24.23.pdf
Sheriff’s and Sheriff’s Employees –
- Edgar County Sheriff Secretary Jamie Trogden cooking her time cards. ISP confirms over $15K of theft in the investigation. Sheriff quote on the matter in this article: “well, it’s not like we all haven’t fudged our time sheets from time to time” – https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2020/03/investigation-edgar-co-sheriff-jeff-wood-well-its-not-like-we-all-havent-fudged-our-time-sheets-from-time-to-time/ – Illinois Appeleate Prosecutors chose to NOT prosecute
- Shelby County Sheriff Payroll Fraud – This issue is what brought us into Shelby County. This was one of those articles and the push back was amazing. https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2020/07/shelby-county-board-member-barbara-bennett-how-dare-you-question-elected-officials/?highlight=fudge. Several years later, the forensic audit PROVED the payroll fraud and not one person was ever charged. Over 11,808 hours that were paid but not worked- https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/?s=Forensic – NO ONE PROSECUTED!
State Workers Double Dipping – From 2024 OEIG Annual Report- https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/21-01474-marbold-henry-and-laura-released-redacted-summary-report_10.17.23.pdf
- Husband and Wife Double Dipping. CMS and SBE employees. Operating private businesses during state time – NO PROSECTION – https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/21-01474-marbold-henry-and-laura-released-redacted-summary-report_10.17.23.pdf
7, 8, and 9 – DHS Employees Michael Canning, Rasheedah Gray, and Terri Diego – NO PROSECUTION even though OEIG proved it and it was for THOUSANDS of dollars in their pocket from double dipping. https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/19-00547-Canning-Gray-and-Diego-released-redacted-summary-report-2.pdf
9. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Director Adrienne Coleman running her private DEI consulting business on state time. OEIG only chose to investigate after the Third Complaint. NO PROSECUTION – https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/21-02372-released-redacted-summary-report-coleman-07.24.23.pdf
10. DHS Associate Margaret Wehrle used sick leave benefit time to work another job. A form of double dipping – Report confirms she was submitting an inaccurate Report of Secondary Employment form. Such an inaccurate record would be a forged record. NO PROSECUTION https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/22-01632-wehrle-eleased-redacted-summary-report-05.21.24.pdf