Federal fraud charges for former Lincoln-Way chief Lawrence Wyllie dismissed due to health issues
Federal prosecutors dismissed fraud charges Friday against former Lincoln-Way District 210 Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie, who was accused of misspending millions in bond proceeds and using district funds on personal projects.
Prosecutors cited Wyllie’s ongoing health issues that have resulted in the case being continued for years as attorneys said he was unable to assist with his defense.
The case against Wyllie, who was District 210 superintendent from 1989 to 2013, dates to September 2017 and followed a yearlong investigation by the Daily Southtown that exposed questionable financial practices at Lincoln-Way. These included private use of public funding and deals benefiting staff, including the development of a $45,000 dog-training center called Superdog.
Liz Sands, a longtime resident whose children were enrolled within Lincoln-Way as the district began expanding, said she thinks it a shame that the charges were dismissed and Wyllie will be able to continue collecting a pension.
“It definitely dredges up old wounds,” said Sands, who was president of the group Lincoln-Way Area Taxpayers UNITE that filed a lawsuit against school officials and uncovered some financial improprieties.
“Obviously, it’s been a very long time and we’ve all, for the most part, moved on. But yeah, it’s very frustrating … that he was never brought to justice.”
Wyllie continues to collect a taxpayer funded pension that in 2020 was more than $351,000, and grows annually to account for cost-of-living increases, according to state records.
Federal prosecutors filed the motion to dismiss the case Friday after receiving medical records and other updated information about 85-year-old Wyllie’s health.
“Based on a review of those materials, the government seeks dismissal of the indictment because defendant’s various medical conditions are significant enough that the parties agree defendant cannot meaningfully contribute to his defense in this matter,” said the motion, signed by acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual.
Regular status reports filed by both prosecutors and the defense said Wyllie’s health problems have been “serious and ongoing” since August 2018. Reports have not gone into detail about the type of issues Wyllie is experiencing, though a filing from January of last year indicated his condition had taken a turn for the worse.
As leader of Lincoln-Way, which served high school students from New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Manhattan and Tinley Park, Wyllie oversaw the district’s expansion from two to four campuses.
While the district’s problems would not become publicly visible until 2015, the building of new schools ate up cash reserves after issuing $204 million in bonds between 2006 and 2009. Prosecutors said at the time of the indictment that Wyllie fraudulently used bonds to cover up the district’s true financial state, leading the district to land on the state’s financial watch list and the school board to close Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort to cut expenses.
The understatement of operating expenditures and misuse of bond funds during that time was at least $7 million, prosecutors said.
Ann Jenkins, a parent of former Lincoln-Way students, said she was not surprised to learn the charges had been dismissed against Wyllie, but hopes community members have learned from his indictment and keep a closer watch on the district.
“Some of it falls on community members that just don’t know any better,” Jenkins said. “This was a huge area of new residents, new construction, a lot of people just coming into the area, not knowing. And he just took advantage of that, and you know, we were his prey.”
