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 A federal jury took less than two hours to find Jeri Wright, 48,
the daughter of Jeremiah Wright, guilty on all counts for her part
in a fraud scheme led by a former suburban police chief and the
chief's husband, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the
Central District of Illinois in Springfield.
The $1.25 million state grant was for a not-for-profit work and
education program called We Are Our Brother's Keeper, owned by
Regina Evans, former police chief of Country Club Hills, and her
husband, Ronald Evans Jr.
Wright, a close friend of the couple, took as much as $11,000 from
checks worth more than $30,000 that were supposed to be for work
related to the grant, prosecutors said. About $20,000 was deposited
back into accounts controlled by Regina and Ronald Evans.
The couple has pleaded guilty to the fraud scheme.
"If you take and misuse government money, and then lie about it, you
will be held accountable in a court of law," said Jim Lewis, U.S.
Attorney for the Central District of Illinois.
The grant agreement was supposed to provide bricklaying and
electrical pre-apprenticeship training and GED preparation at the
Regal Theater, another entity owned by the couple. Little, if any,
of the training provided in the grant agreement was ever completed,
according to prosecutors.
Jeremiah Wright was the Chicago pastor whose inflammatory church
sermons, which often condemned U.S. attitudes on race, poverty and
other issues, became a focus during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama quieted the controversy with a speech putting the quotes in
the context of race relations.
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Jeri Wright also was convicted of making false statements to law
enforcement officers and giving false testimony to a grand jury. The
maximum penalty for money laundering is up to 20 years in prison,
and five years in prison on the other counts.
Wright, of the Chicago suburb of Hazel Crest, told reporters outside
the Springfield federal court house that she will appeal, according
to media accounts. Her attorneys were not immediately available for
comment.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 7.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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