In a historic move, President Joe Biden has granted clemency to Rita Crundwell, the former Dixon, Illinois comptroller convicted of embezzling nearly $54 million from the city. Crundwell, who was sentenced to nearly 20 years in 2013, spent just eight years behind bars before her sentence was commuted.
The decision is part of a larger action where President Biden commuted the sentences of 1,499 individuals. Crundwell’s case, noted as the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history, has sparked a mixture of reactions, highlighted by outspoken criticism from U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen who expressed his disappointment on social media, calling the decision “a load of BS.”
This commutation raises questions about the balance between justice served and pandemic-related prison policies.