Convicted $54 million municipal embezzler Rita Crundwell has been transferred to a federal prison in her home state of Illinois.
Sauk Valley Media reports the 65-year-old former Dixon comptroller is now housed in the Pekin Federal Correctional Institution, about 100 miles south of the northern Illinois city. Crundwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to stealing the money over two decades to support a lavish lifestyle and a nationally renowned horse-breeding operation.
Her thievery ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state’s corruption-rich history.
Crundwell previously served prison time in Minnesota and at a federal medical center in Texas before she was sent to Pekin earlier this month. She has served about 4 1/2 years of her sentence.
