Steve Skidmore, Crawford Co. Coroner Candidate, Lied About Arrest Record –

CRAWFORD CO., IL. (ECWd) –

This morning I received a copy of the flyer sent out by Steve Skidmore, Candidate for Crawford County Coroner.

I immediately called him to ask a few general questions I would typically ask any candidate for an office such as Coroner.

I told him who I was and that I was going to write an article about him for the Edgar County Watchdogs website.

He agreed to talk.

Below are the short answers to my questions to him over the phone:

• ME:  Did you serve in the Navy? – SKIDMORE: YES
• ME: Where were you stationed? – SKIDMORE told me about the Navy school and some other things
• ME:  Have you been divorced? – SKIDMORE: YES
• ME:  Have you ever been arrested? – SKIDMORE: NO
• ME:  Have you ever filed for bankruptcy? – SKIDMORE: YES
• ME:  Have you ever been arrested? – SKIDMORE: NO, never been arrest and not a wanted person (by law enforcement)
• ME:  Are you sure you’ve never been arrested? – SKIDMORE: NO, never been arrested
• ME:  I am looking at an arrest document where you refused a breathalyzer… – SKIDMORE: THAT WAS DISMISSED
• ME:  I am looking at the Federal Court Docket that says you plead GUILTY and paid a $1200.00 fine – SKIDMORE: HOW DID YOU GET THAT?
• ME:  I got it off the Federal Court’s webpage – SKIDMORE: YOU will have to send questions to my lawyer
• He then hung up the phone on me after telling me again to send all questions to his attorney – but he never told me who his attorney was, and I suspect he doesn’t have one.

What is interesting is that he said he was in the Navy for around 9 years and told me he attended the Navy School of Health Sciences for approximately a year, freely discussed getting divorced and filing bankruptcy, but lied about the arrest.

His bankruptcy included total liabilities of $172,443.85 – which included around $35k owed on 21 acres of real estate, $34k owed on a vehicle, $26k in credit cards, and $76,000 in student loans. It was discharged on  December 15, 2004, with the last filing dated November 10, 2010 (HERE).

He was divorced in Crawford County in 1998. He also had a speeding ticket from St. Louis, and the Bankruptcy Trustee sold the real estate for whatever it would bring.

In this day of electronic communications, I fail to understand why he would lie about his arrest record. It was years ago, but he chose to lie about it when asked, and he lied three times stating he had never been arrested, and again when he tried to say it was dismissed (which it wasn’t).

In mid-2004 he was charged in Federal Court for a DUI, refusal to submit to breathalyzer (charge cover sheet here). The DUI arrest occurred on October 31, 2003, and was a criminal violation of 36 CFR 4.23(c).

He pleaded guilty (here) and a federal judge then ordered a $1200 fine and $10 assessment (here).

Steve Skidmore’s Residence

He currently, and for the past year, lives in a camper next to his mother’s trailer at a trailer park.

The fact that he would lie about his arrest record gives us doubt as to the truthfulness of the rest of his claims on education and work experience. Did he embellish on those as much as he lied about his arrest records?

Why did he have to hang up the phone instead of admitting he was previously arrested and pleaded guilty in Federal Court to refusing to take a breathalyzer? What else is there to find?

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