Crime & Law
11 Current, Former Ford Heights Officials Charged With Using Public Funds for Private Travel
(Michał Chodyra / iStock)
Nearly a dozen current and former officials from south suburban Ford Heights have been arrested and charged with allegedly using municipal funds to pay for flights, hotels and exorbitant spending trips.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office on Friday announced 79 felony charges against 11 current and former elected officials and employees of the village of Ford Heights.
They allegedly used municipal funds to pay for trips to casinos in Las Vegas and Michigan City, Indiana.
“Elected officials and civil servants are rightfully held to a higher standard, making it especially egregious when someone in power intentionally steals from the taxpayers they are supposed to be serving,” Raoul said in a statement.
Raoul credited his office’s investigators and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for investigating the case.
On Thursday, those officials executed a search warrant at Ford Heights Municipal Hall.
The charges include counts of theft of governmental property and official misconduct.
The 11 people charged are:
- Antone Adams, 59
- Former mayor Annie R. Coulter, 74
- Village Clerk Nyree D. Ford, 53
- Allis Franklin, 78
- Mary Matthews Graziano, 65
- Current village trustee Johnny A. Griffin, 67
- Former village trustee Scottie L. Hatten, 38
- Former village trustee LaDell L. Jones, 61
- Dedra D. Lee, 65
- Former village trustee Antoina T. McMichales, 56
- Current village trustee James E. Morgan, 48, of Ford Heights
The defendants are scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Sept. 30.
