Rita Crundwell, the former Dixon comptroller who stole more than $50 million in what some publications called “the largest municipal fraud in United States history,” had her sentence commuted by President Joe Biden Thursday.
Crundwell was one of nearly 1,500 individuals who had their sentences commuted by the president in one of the largest single-day actions in U.S. history, with the president also issuing more than three dozen pardons.
Crundwell served as Dixon’s comptroller for more than 20 years, and pleaded guilty in 2013 to embezzling more than $50 million from the city over the course of that time. She used the funds to build a massive championship-winning horse breeding and show operation, according to prosecutors.
Crundwell, originally sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison, was released from prison in 2021 under a federal program under the CARES Act that allowed for those at high-risk of COVID to be released into home detention.
Nearly 1,500 individuals released under that program were the focus of Thursday’s commutations. The Biden administration said in its press release that the individuals had been "placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities."
There had been questions over whether those on home confinement under the CARES Act-related program would be forced to return to prison, but Biden's action ensures the 1,499 individuals will have their sentences commuted instead.
In addition to Crundwell's prison sentence, she was also required to pay restitution. The U.S. Marshals auctioned off her estate and assets as part of the sentence, netting $9.2 million. The city of Dixon also filed lawsuits against insurance companies and auditors that had not detected the thefts, and were awarded more than $30 million in settlements.
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Biden said that most of those whose sentences he commuted had “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
A commutation reduces a sentence that is being served, but does not erase a conviction nor imply innocence, according to the Department of Justice.
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More critically, a commutation can include the lifting of financial obligations that are imposed as part of a sentence.
Horses owned by Crundwell were still generating royalties while she was in prison via so-called “breeder’s trusts,” which “make it possible for breeders to collect proceeds even if they won't own a winning show horse, and allowing them to earn money as a ‘subscriber’ -- a person who resisters a stallion to sire foals -- or as a ‘nominator’ -- a person who previously owned a foal that eventually earns money,” according to NBC 5 Investigates.
