Huntley schools mail fraud a cloudy issue

Huntley Unit District 158's complaint with the U.S. Postal Service probably won't result in criminal charges, postal service and state election officials said Thursday.

District 158 has filed a complaint of possible mail fraud alleging the district sent voters misleading information in a newsletter before the 2004 referendum.

District officials have declined to say specifically what is alleged in the complaint.

In most cases, the Chicago division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service would handle a mail fraud investigation in the greater Chicago area, said David Colen, assistant inspector in charge of the Chicago division.

But cases that involve campaign mailings, like District 158's complaint, are usually referred to the Illinois State Board of Elections or the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, Colen said.

Even when such complaints are forwarded, it's unlikely that any criminal charges would result, Colen said.

"They normally don't prosecute that kind of claim," Colen said. "I can investigate it all I want, but if nobody prosecutes it, that effort is for naught."

Colen, as well as state election officials, said mail fraud is difficult to prove -- although each complaint must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

"Mailing something that's misleading isn't anywhere near mail fraud," said Steve Sturm, attorney for the state board of elections.

For an action to constitute mail fraud, "it's got to be a big part of the crime or it has to further a crime," Colen said.

Even if authorities determine that a crime has been committed, it's not clear who in District 158 would be held responsible.

"The investigation would have to determine who wrote the newsletter, who authorized it, who paid for the mailing, who benefited from it," Colen said.

District 158 has also filed a separate complaint with the McHenry County state's attorney alleging a former superintendent approved benefits he didn't have the authority to approve.

Again, district officials have declined to give specifics on what benefits were granted.

While district officials wouldn't say if the state's attorney's complaint names former Superintendent Steve Swanson, they did say it doesn't name Robert Hammon -- the only other superintendent during the period in question.

Swanson, who is now the superintendent of Streator Township High School District 40, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Board member Larry Snow has filed a separate complaint with the state's attorney alleging District 158 officials signed contracts they didn't have the authority to sign.