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U.S. DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT, ILLINOIS—A former Carterville, Illinois school official has been sentenced in federal court in southern Illinois.
Todd Ryan Frazier, 32, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was sentenced to twelve months and one day in federal prison as a result of his conviction for Embezzlement and Theft from the Carterville School District, a unit of local government that received federal funds, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Frazier was also ordered to serve two years supervised release following his release from prison, to pay restitution totaling $100,420.80, and to serve two hundred hours of community service.
“I cannot stress enough that public service is a public trust. If you violate the public’s trust, you will be punished.” said United States Attorney Wigginton.
Court documents reveal that Frazier, from August of 2008 and continuing through February of 2012, engaged in a scheme to defraud the Carterville School District, Unit 5, in Williamson County, while he was the School Business Official, which included the duties and responsibilities to act as the treasurer and payroll officer for the district. Frazier abused his position of public trust over a three and a half year period causing a loss of approximately $114,000. Although Frazier pled guilty to one count of a multiple count indictment, all of his actions in the remaining counts were considered as relevant conduct by the Court in determining the appropriate sentence to impose. There was evidence that Frazier’s manipulation of the financial records of the school district caused an immense disruption and a lot of effort to rectify.
The successful prosecution is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Carterville School District. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith.