Ill. woman gets 2 years probation in fraud case

[March 10, 2009]  EAST ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A southern Illinois woman has been sentenced to two years probation for her role in a federal bankruptcy fraud case linked to the unsolved killings of two witnesses.

U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy also ordered 64-year-old Margaret Diekemper to stay away from her husband, Joseph.

She and her husband are accused of hiding an expensive tractor from creditors by taking it to the rental property of George Weedon. Weedon and his wife turned up dead in April 2007, two days after Weedon approached the FBI about the tractor.

No one has been charged in the killings.

Margaret Diekemper had pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Her husband awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and perjury.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com/

[Associated Press]

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