LaSalle County State’s Attorney sets example for others –

LaSalle Co. (ECWd) –

For years we have been amazed at the lack of action by State’s Attorneys when it comes to taking on public corruption or malfeasance by public officials.  All indications are the tide has changed in LaSalle County.

Karen Donnelly won the voter’s support during the last election and took control of the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s office in December of 2016.  Her opponent, Brian Towne, had been embroiled in numerous legal matters to include the create of an illegal police force, according to the Illinois Appellate Court’s unanimous decision.

Donnelly has been on a mission to recover funds that Brian Towne illegaly transfered to another unit of government, the Spring Valley Police Department.

The WebTimes published this article exposing a lawsuit filed by the LaSalle County State’s Attorney and laid out key points from the lawsuit.

• “Towne was ‘criminal’ in handling of funds”
• “criminally misused” county funds
• no authority to pass $573,451.18 on to Spring Valley police, from money seized by the State’s Attorney’s Felony Enforcement unit
• Spring Valley had no authority to accept the money.

Going back in time to our October of 2016 article on Brian Towne, it is now crystal clear we once again nailed this chain of events that has once again landed Brian Towne in the middle of a legal action.

We are confident once we get our hands on the actual court filing we will see many of the same legal positions we pointed out, found in this lawsuit.

One matter that should shock everyone is the fact this discraced former State’s Attorney and now employee of the State Appellate Prosecutor’s office, wrote a proposal for a reality TV show featuring his illegal SAFE unit.

From the WebTimes reporting: “Donnelly said the proposal was found in a box marked “SAFE” in the state’s attorney’s office.”

So if the proposal was found in a box in the State’s Attorney’s office, was there any forensic analysis on the computers used by Towne to determine if he drafted the proposal and if so, was the drafting o fit done on State time?  For a prosecutor to claim he is some top crime fighter, does he not know it’s a crime to use state property for personal gain?  If it turns out he drafted his reality TV show proposal using public property and did so on public time, may he face a criminal charge for that action as well?

Our hats off to LaSalle County State’s Attorney for taking on public corruption on behalf of the citizens of LaSalle County and the State of Illinois. We pray other State’s Attorneys pay attention and step up to the plate and start fighting public corruption.

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