Bianchi denies accusations as ex-worker gets supervision

McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi emphatically denied claims he instructed a county secretary to perform political tasks during business hours, despite sworn testimony from the former worker Monday and documentation she says backs up her accusations.

In a written statement issued after his former personal secretary, Amy L. Dalby, was sentenced to court supervision for unlawfully removing computer files from the state's attorney's office, Bianchi said none of his workers were required to campaign on his behalf.

"It is a shame that sabotage by some overzealous political opponents created the result reached in court today and continues to fuel untrue and overreaching statements in the public," he said.

Bianchi declined to comment beyond his written remarks.

Dalby, 24, was given to court supervision, along with a $400 fine, on a misdemeanor computer tampering charge alleging she downloaded and removed more than 5,000 pages of documents from the state's attorney's office in the summer of 2006.

If she stays out of trouble for the next 12 months, a conviction will not go on her record and she could eventually petition to have the case expunged.

In return for her plea to the misdemeanor charge, the special prosecutor who investigated the case at Bianchi's request dismissed six felony charges stemming from the same set of allegations.

McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon issued the sentence after a hearing in which he heard Dalby testify she took the files to prove wrongdoing by Bianchi.

The special prosecutor who's been investigating the case for more than 18 months said it would be disingenuous to believe the Woodstock woman was merely an innocent victim of a political conspiracy.

Condon said he believes Dalby was naive to the political motives of others who encouraged her to take the files, but he chided her for removing them and not taking them to the authorities.

"When you took the information you may have intended to do the right thing, but intent alone is not sufficient," he said. "You must actually do the right thing."

Dalby said she took the files as evidence she was required to perform campaign work and other political duties on county time.

She reiterated those claims in court Monday, saying she wrote political letters, typed out and copied campaign checks and performed other campaign tasks assigned by Bianchi.

"I feel that it was my civic duty to take proof of Mr. Bianchi's wrongdoing because it is his job to prosecute those who do not uphold the law, and he himself was breaking the law," she said. "It was wrong. Ultimately, I thought that by just being honest all of the wrongs would be righted, but as it turns out, it just got me into trouble."

The case's prosecutor, David O'Connor, voiced doubt that Dalby's motives were apolitical, noting that rather than taking the files to a law enforcement agency, she instead held onto them for 13 months and then turned them over to the campaign of Daniel Regna, who unsuccessfully challenged Bianchi in last year's Republican primary.

"The fact of the matter is Miss Dalby made a terrible error of judgment and must take responsibility for her actions," O'Connor said. "Any rational person should know you can't take thousands of documents from a law enforcement agency and turn around and blame someone else when you get caught."

Dalby's defense Monday filed more than 50 pages of documents it says was political work she performed at Bianchi's request. They include letters to political supporters, invitations to a campaign fundraiser, an agenda for that fundraiser and a lengthy campaign mailing list Dalby said she created and maintained on county time.

Despite those documents, Bianchi said Monday his campaign - including the fundraiser - was not run from the state's attorney's office or by state's attorney workers.

"As I have previously stated, my re-election campaign was run outside of the state's attorney's office," he said. "My annual fundraiser was planned, organized and executed by my committee chairman, who is not employed by the state's attorney's office."

O'Connor said there is no evidence that Dalby's actions jeopardized any state's attorney case or cost the office money.

Dalby's attorney, Wesley Pribla, said his client never believed she was doing anything illegal, rather she was trying to right what she saw as a wrong.

"This kid got caught in a buzz saw," he said. "Her motives were nothing but of the highest honor."

The charges against Dalby came as part of a special prosecutor probe launched in late 2007 when Bianchi's office learned files may have been taken from his office.

Although O'Connor has not named others targeted in the inquiry, one name that has surfaced repeatedly is that of Kristen Foley, a former assistant state's attorney under Bianchi and his predecessor, Gary Pack.

According to Dalby, it was Foley who first told her it was improper to perform political work on county time and encouraged her to save copies of her work so they could later bring it to the attention of the Attorney General. Dalby, however, never filed a formal complaint regarding the files or the political work she said she performed.

O'Connor has said the investigation is ongoing, but nearing a conclusion. He has declined to say whether more charges are likely.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/dalby0601.pdf">Sampling of documents in Dalby's defense</a></li> <li><a href="/pdf/bianchistatement.pdf">Statement from McHenry Co. State's Attorney Lou Bianchi</a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=297626">Dalby's statement to the court <span class="date">[06/01/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>