Hmmm...

 Just watched a very intriguing documentary.

All the Queen's Horses explains how Rita Crundwell got away with embezzling more than $53 million from the town of Dixon, Illinois -- over a period of TWENTY YEARS.

     It isn't pretty.

Does that name sound familiar? It should. Ms. Crundwell was one of the pardons President Biden gave out on his last days in office. She'd been sentenced in 2012, but was actually been out of jail since 2021 by playing the 'Gee, my health is endangered, I'm going to die, anyways' card during the Covid epidemic. (She'd served less than half her sentence.) After Biden's pardon, she was released from 'home confinement' just before Christmas 2024.

    Most probably her 300-plus horses were not sharing her stall. They, along with five properties, dozens of cowboy hats, $250,000 of jewelry, and other flotsam and jetsum, including horse semen, were auctioned off for $10.5 million years ago. It was bargain day.The horses, for one category, sold for considerably less than she'd paid. Her $2.1 million luxury trailer was sold for $800,000 -- to the company she'd originally bought it from. But of course, there was no getting back the money spent on spa days, fancy living quarters and luxury items that Crundwell had splurged on.

              Rita, during her Grand Champion days

Townspeople asked, quite logically, why Crundwell's activities hadn't been noticed sooner. The entire Dixon city council was replaced, as well as the mayor. The town elected a city manager to oversee things. The auditing firm and a bank in charge of the town's funds settled a civil suit out of court. (The town ended up paying $10 million-plus just in lawyer fees.)

    And now, finally, more than one person has to sign each check and expenditure.

Where is Rita Crundwell now? Back in Dixon. (See below.) How much, if anything, has she paid back, besides the auctioned items?

Here's what Dixon's city manager had to say about the whole mess. (They weren't consulted when Crundwell was released on 'compassionate leave' back in 2021, either.)

"Dixon is shocked and outraged with the announcement that President Biden has given Rita Crundwell clemency for the largest embezzlement in the history of our country. This is a complete travesty of justice and a slap in the face for our entire community.

While today's news is unimaginable, the City of Dixon is in an incredible place today. We will continue to focus on the future and work to capitalize on the momentum we have created."

A nice long (and disgusting) look at the whole affair is here. There are all sorts of oddities: $4500 bail? Her lavish ranch sold for just a million to... her nephew?? Being released to live in 'home confiement'...on her brother's farm in Dixon? (Yes, she went back to the scene of the crime. And don't assume her new home was some scruffy shack, either.) 

     And the cherry on top: what in the world persuaded a President to commute her sentence? (In some ways, I don't want to know.)

  This should be required reading for all  towns, villages, cities and counties -- including yours.