The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Rock Island- According to a clerk of the Federal courts, a pretrial conference date has been set for 11:00 A.M. Friday, May 17, 2002 in Rock Island District Federal Court for Janice E. Ford, age 52, of Stronghurst.
Ford was indicted February 21st for embezzlement at a bank she had been employed for around thirty years.
Jan Paul Miller, United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, said the one-count indictment alleges that during a period from February 22,1992 through August 2, 2001, Ford, as an employee of the Bank of Stronghurst, had embezzled approximately $232,500 in bank deposits which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
A Jury trial is scheduled for 8:30 A.M. Monday, June 3, 2002.
Court preceding will be held in Central District of Illinois 7th Circuit Federal Court at 211 19th Street in Rock Island in the Federal Building.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the Bank of Stronghurst, the Henderson County Sheriff's Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Lang is prosecuting the case. Federal Public Defender Attorney George Taseff of Peoria will be representing Ford.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt, and that under the law, the defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it will be the burden of the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bank of Stronghurst CEO Chuck Vaughn said although funds were taken prior to February 22, 1992, he was informed by U.S. Attorney Lang that a statue of limitation on bank fraud only allows them to go back ten years.
For restitution, however, he said the bank may go back all the way to the first day funds were taken. The $232,500 is only the amount that can be used to prosecute Ford for bank fraud. Vaughn said, but there was more found to be taken. All funds from accounts have been repaid by the bank's bonding company, he said.
At the upcoming pretrial conference May 17th, the prosecuting attorney informed Vaughn that a continuance could be requested by the Ford's attorney, or attorneys could come to a pretrial settlement, in which case a jury trial would be avoided all together.