Ex-McHenry Co. state's attorney aide pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge

Amy Dalby, the college student at the center of a 20-month special prosecutor probe into computer files swiped from the office of McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Wednesday in another surprising twist to the politically charged investigation.

Dalby, 24, admitted guilt to computer tampering, a Class A misdemeanor alleging she unlawfully removed more than 5,100 pages of digital documents from the office in June or July 2006.

The charge normally is punishable by a maximum one year behind bars, but the case's prosecutor said he will not seek any jail time when Dalby is sentenced Monday.

That is a major reversal of fortune for Dalby, Bianchi's onetime personal secretary, who arrived at court Wednesday facing six felony charges and a maximum five years in prison. All six felonies were dismissed as part of Dalby's plea agreement.

Dalby declined to comment until next week's sentencing, but her attorney said accepting the plea bargain was a difficult, but necessary, decision for his client, an aspiring teacher who could not risk a felony conviction.

"I believe she is legally not guilty of the charges, but the consequences, if I'm wrong, are too onerous for her," defense lawyer Wesley Pribla said. "Her career would be destroyed before it starts. I have a responsibility to do what's in her long-term interests."

David O'Connor, the special prosecutor first appointed to look into the missing files in October 2007, said he had hoped the case could be resolved through an agreement.

"One of the key aspects of this was her willingness to accept responsibility for what she did, and she is now willing to do that," O'Connor said.

The initial indictment against her, handed down by a special grand jury in February, alleged she removed the files in June or July 2006, shortly before she left her job to attend classes full time at Northern Illinois University.

O'Connor previously said Dalby later turned over the files to unnamed individuals for use against Bianchi during his successful 2008 re-election campaign.

The investigation, he said Wednesday, is ongoing, but nearing a conclusion. He declined to say whether charges against others are likely.

Dalby never denied taking the files, but said she did so to preserve evidence of the political work she performed while being paid by county taxpayers. The work, she said, included typing letters to campaign supporters, setting up tables for a political fundraiser and copying campaign checks.

Bianchi, a Republican from Crystal Lake, has denied running his campaign out of the state's attorney's office. "Out of respect for the process, it would be premature and inappropriate to comment while the case is still pending," Bianchi said in a written statement. "The case has been continued for sentencing to June 1, 2009. We will withhold any comment until that time."

Despite Wednesday's plea, Pribla said he intends to go forward with Dalby's petition seeking a special prosecutor to investigate her claims against Bianchi.

"I think the people of the county should be upset," Pribla said. "Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars have been wasted in this witch hunt initiated by Lou Bianchi.

"I think he should be embarrassed of himself. He should resign," Pribla added. "This was a clear abuse of his authority and he has no right to serve in that office."

There is no indication yet how Dalby's plea will affect others possibly targeted in the probe, including former assistant state's attorney and Bianchi critic, Kristen Foley.

Foley's attorney, Mark Gummerson, previously said he believes his client was a target of the special prosecutor. Foley has not been charged and Dalby's plea agreement does not require her to testify against others.

However, in the weeks leading up to her indictment - and before she hired an attorney - Dalby did give state investigators a videotaped statement in which she discussed Foley's role in the acquisition of the Bianchi files. Dalby has said it was Foley who first told her that the tasks she was performing on Bianchi's behalf may be inappropriate and encouraged her to keep copies of the work.

O'Connor said that information gathered through his investigation, but not directly related to the probe's narrow focus, has been forwarded to other law enforcement agencies. He declined to detail the nature of the information or which agencies received it.