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Not-for-profit owner pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud

Posted February 22, 2017 6:00 am

The Associated Press

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois man who federal prosecutors say filed for bankruptcy 10 times in five years has pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Mark McFarland of Springfield pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in East St. Louis. His sentencing is scheduled for June 6.

According to court records, McFarland filed 10 bankruptcy cases in the Central District of Illinois between April 2009 and August 2013. McFarland was identified as president of Second Chance Inc., a rehabilitation program for juvenile and adult ex-offenders.

After prosecutors determined Second Chance was located in Springfield, where the case belonged, McFarland filed an amended bankruptcy petition stating Second Chance has an Alton address. He produced a lease that had been fraudulently backdated to September 2014.

U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce said Wednesday the 58-year-old McFarland faces up to five years in prison.

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