Former Illinois Library Director
to Restore Embezzled Funds
The former director of the Du Quoin (Ill.) Public Library pleaded guilty June 25 to the theft of $67,500 from the library’s bank account and agreed to two years of probation and restoration of the full amount. Donna G. Campanella, who served as director from 1995 until she was dismissed in October, admitted to submitting payment vouchers for work performed by a nonexistent company and creating false billing records supposedly submitted by a book company in Michigan.
According to police investigators, library board members had not approved any of the fake vouchers because Campanella submitted them directly to the city clerk’s office for payment. She also doctored monthly reports to the board to erase any evidence of wrongdoing, according to the June 27 Du Quoin Evening Call.
The Perry County Circuit Court ordered Campanella to pay $60,500 directly to the city and forfeit a $7,000 bond she posted at the time of her arrest in November. It also fined her $500 for felony theft. State’s attorney David Stanton told the Evening Call that the city would have been unlikely to recover the full amount if the plea had included jail time.
Posted July 1, 2002.
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