Federal authorities say former Illinois state Rep. Connie Howard has been sentenced to three months in prison for fraud.
The Chicago Democrat pleaded guilty in July 2013 to soliciting $76,700 for scholarships through a charity golf outing and pocketing about $28,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Springfield said Tuesday that after her release from prison, she’ll serve three months of home confinement. That’ll be the first part of a two-year supervised release term.
The 72-year-old was also ordered to pay restitution to two organizations: Nearly $16,000 to the Chicago Urban League and over $12,000 to the Black United Fund.
Authorities say only five scholarships totaling $12,500 were issued. The rest was pocketed for personal and political use.
Howard was an Illinois House member at the time of the allegations.
![A Carpentersville man remains in Lake County Jail as Thursday, held on sexual assault charges after he reportedly groped a co-worker. According to a Lake Zurich Police Department news release, officers responded April 19 to the 600 block of America Court on a call of a sexual assault. Officers said a man at the assisted living complex, who was identified as Everado Cardenas, of the 100 block of Bolz Road in Carpentersville, was accused of “[grabbing] the breast and genitals of another employee of the business without her consent,” according to the release. Cardenas, 53, was arrested at the scene. […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2018/08/23/7XZEANKDMZBJLMO6IIT6OFUP6M.jpg?w=535 "A Carpentersville man remains in Lake County Jail as Thursday, held on sexual assault charges after he reportedly groped a co-worker. According to a Lake Zurich Police Department news release, officers responded April 19 to the 600 block of America Court on a call of a sexual assault. Officers said a man at the assisted living complex, who was identified as Everado Cardenas, of the 100 block of Bolz Road in Carpentersville, was accused of “[grabbing] the breast and genitals of another employee of the business without her consent,” according to the release. Cardenas, 53, was arrested at the scene. […]")
![A jury acquitted a Gary man on all counts Wednesday in a child molesting trial. Olalekan McNeary, 51, was charged in August 2021 with seven felonies, including two counts of child molesting, and two counts of rape. The victim, now a young adult, testified Tuesday that McNeary molested them at age 4, then later sexually assaulted them as a preteen and for the final time on March 27, 2021. The victim said they were only able to say what happened in May 2021 after eating two marijuana edibles. A Gary police report was made on June 4, 2021. DNA evidence […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Post-Tribune.jpg?w=620 "A jury acquitted a Gary man on all counts Wednesday in a child molesting trial. Olalekan McNeary, 51, was charged in August 2021 with seven felonies, including two counts of child molesting, and two counts of rape. The victim, now a young adult, testified Tuesday that McNeary molested them at age 4, then later sexually assaulted them as a preteen and for the final time on March 27, 2021. The victim said they were only able to say what happened in May 2021 after eating two marijuana edibles. A Gary police report was made on June 4, 2021. DNA evidence […]")