Another Illinois Elected Official Heads to Prison

I know it's hard to believe, given our state's sterling reputation, that someone in elected office decided to screw over those responsible for electing them. 

I must admit to being nearly as shocked as Captain Renault was in "Casablanca" upon finding out there was gambling going on at Rick's Place:

All shock aside, if political corruption were an Olympic sport, the gold-medal platform would have an Illinois sign permanently attached to it.

From CBS Chicago:

The former treasurer of a southern Illinois city has been sentenced to 48 months in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from the city over a four-year period. Ryan Thorpe was indicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud and embezzlement from a local government charges.

Thorpe was accused of stealing more than $315,000 from the city of Ziegler between Jan. 1, 2013, and Aug. 31, 2017. The theft was uncovered by an audit.

As is often the case, the attorney for the accused asked the judge for leniency, saying that his client has a family to support, and was cooperative with the prosecution. The judge wasn't having it:

In sentencing Thorpe on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle said she couldn’t exercise more compassion or care for Thorpe’s family than Thorpe did in defrauding the citizens he was hired to serve.

When you think about it, $300,000 is quite a bit of money--but here in Illinois, we like to go big. Remember Rita Crundwell and Dixon's $54 million?