Former State Corrections Accountant Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $77,000 From Various Department Funds

Springfield, Ill. – A former employee of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Mary Ann Bohlen, 46, of Edinburg, Ill., admitted today that she embezzled approximately $77,000 from various department funds over a period of four years, from 2007 to 2011. During her appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron Cudmore, Bohlen waived indictment and entered pleas of guilty to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of embezzlement of government funds as charged in an information filed Feb. 1, 2013, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.

According to court documents, Bohlen was employed from February 2004 until Feb. 15, 2012, as Assistant Deputy Director and Supervisor of Central Accounting for the Division of Fiscal Accounting Compliance. In her position, Bohlen had access to various financial accounts and funds including the Inmate Benefit Fund, Inmate Commissary Fund, and the Reimbursement and Education Fund. In April 2006, Bohlen became treasurer of the Illinois Correctional Employees Memorial Association, an organization of IDOC employees formed to recognize and memorialize IDOC employees who were killed or suffered permanent disability in the line of duty. Bohlen actively solicited employees to become members of the association, which was funded by membership fees, fundraisers and donations.

Bohlen admitted that from June 22, 2007, to July 19, 2011, she embezzled more than $50,000 from the Illinois Correctional Employees Memorial Association. As a further part of the scheme, Bohlen admitted that from about Mar. 6, 2008, to April 27, 2011, she embezzled more than $27,000 from other various funds, including the Inmate Benefit Fund, Inmate Commissary Fund, and the Reimbursement and Education Fund, to conceal and replace the funds she had embezzled from the Memorial Association.

Bohlen admitted that she wrote more than $50,000 worth of checks drawn on the Memorial Associations’ bank account which were payable to herself, to cash, and to a business in Owaneco, Ill., where she was an employee, partner or accountant. The business sold various products including Illinois wine, cheese, pizza, elk products, soy candles and other items.

Sentencing for Bohlen is scheduled on Jun. 10, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough. Each count of mail fraud carries a statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison; each count of embezzlement carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison.

The charges were investigated by the Illinois State Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris is prosecuting the case.