Bryson John Russell, the former president of Hartsburg State Bank in Logan County, Illinois, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $500,000 from the bank.
According to a recent U.S. District Court order, Russell, 66, of Lincoln, Illinois, was also ordered to pay restitution to the bank in the amount of $562,293 and to remain on supervised release for three years following his release from prison.
Russell pleaded guilty on February 27, 2013, to a single count of embezzlement as charged in an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
Russell admitted that he began taking cash from the bank in 1992 to pay for personal items and obligations. He became bank president in 1989 and was a career employee, having begun work in 1966 at Hartsburg State Bank.
To conceal his activity, Russell created bank loans in the names of various bank customers, including relatives. When the various loans were due, Russell created different, larger loans in relatives’ names and other bank customers’ names to pay off the loans, as well as to embezzle additional money.
Russell also admitted to cashing a customer’s $15,000 certificate of deposit and applying the proceeds to a loan he had created in the customer’s name.
The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Hartsburg State Bank. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Hansen prosecuted the case.
Russell will self-report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence on a date to be determined.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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