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Possible contempt of court for former Kane election chief

A judge will rule in November on whether a 72-year-old disbarred attorney should be found in contempt of court for not making restitution payments since 2008 for raiding a disabled man’s $500,000 trust.

David Bruun, of Elgin Township, argued to Kane County Judge James Hallock that the contempt charges should be dismissed because the five-year period for making payments has expired.

Bruun, whose criminal history surfaced several years ago when he was hired to oversee elections in Kane County, argued that an appellate court affirmed and reversed part of his conviction in October 2003.

He argued that prosecutors lost jurisdiction in the case because they failed to make Bruun pay restitution until summer 2006, which was well after his release from prison in January 2004.

“They had a chance to bite at the apple and didn’t do it,” Bruun told Hallock, who will rule on the case Nov. 1.

Jody Gleason, Kane County first assistant state’s attorney, said a judge can order restitution payments to continue beyond the five-year period and that Bruun should be ruled in contempt of court because he has not made a payment since October 2008.

“The defendant has admitted he stopped making those payments,” she said.

On June 14, 2006, then-Judge Philip DiMarzio ordered Bruun to pay $450 a month to the victim through June 2011, according to court records. “At the end of the five-year period a new restitution order shall be entered providing for the remainder of the restitution to be paid,” according to the order.

Bruun was charged in 1998 with stealing $500,000 from a disabled man’s trust.

He was convicted, sentenced to prison, and ordered to pay $254,000 in restitution to his victim, a St. Charles man.

While it was unlikely Bruun would ever pay the total amount, he petitioned the court to lower the monthly amount to $320. The last payment was made in October 2008, according to court records, and Gleason said Bruun still owes $245,256.82.

If found to be in contempt of court, Bruun can’t be sent back to prison because he’s served his time on the theft charge. But other punishments are at Hallock’s disposal, including jail time.

Ex-elections director still owes victim

Ex-Kane election director wants restitution case dismissed

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