East St. Louis Township official charged with wire fraud

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - An East St. Louis Township official has been charged with spending more than $40,000 of township money on personal purchases and will plead guilty next month.

Supervisor Oliver Hamilton was charged with wire fraud Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/2eGNBkX ) reported. Court documents show Hamilton is scheduled to plead guilty at a Dec. 1 hearing.

An investigation by the newspaper shows Hamilton spent $230,000 on a township credit card between January 1, 2012, and June for various personal items, such as trips to Las Vegas, car washes and gifts for his political allies.

Hamilton, who owns a construction company, also used the credit card to purchase tools and hardware supplies.

Hamilton previously said while he admitted to using the credit card for personal use, he denied any wrongdoing and reimbursed the township. But the township failed to provide documented proof that Hamilton repaid it.

"I mean, I don't go and say we done this, we done that and it added up to this. No," Hamilton previous said. "I'm just trying to do what's right for the people."

A federal court document shows Hamilton waived indictment. Hamilton's attorney, Clyde Kuehn, could not be reached for comment.

___

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