Leilani Hillis, Mail and Tax Fraud, Illinois 2023

Rockford, Illinois - A former director of operations at a Rockford non-profit organization has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for mail fraud and tax fraud, the Grimy Times has learned.

Leilani Hillis, 60, was also ordered to pay restitution of $632,718.99 on the mail fraud charge and $151,186.91 on the tax fraud charge.

Hillis pleaded guilty to the charges in March, in a move that likely saved her from a longer sentence.

According to a written plea agreement, Hillis was an employee of a non-profit organization whose mission was to attract, retain and expand jobs in the Rockford area. The organization received funding from private sources and local governments.

As part of her duties, Hillis handled the organization's payroll, human resource matters and accounting, and oversaw the annual audit. She also had signatory authority on the organization's bank account and access to the organization's PayPal account.

From 2009 through April 2018, Hillis used the organization's credit card to make unauthorized purchases for her personal benefit totaling $632,718.99. She concealed her crime by using the organization's accounting codes to make it appear the purchases were for the organization's benefit, and she forged the initials of the organization's president on the expense reports.

Hillis also admitted that she did not report as income the money from the organization that she used to pay the organization's credit card for her unauthorized personal purchases. As a result, for the tax years 2014 to 2017, Hillis failed to pay $151,186.91 in federal income taxes.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Tara Sullivan, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Paccagnini.

The organization's mission was to attract, retain and expand jobs in the Rockford area. The organization received funding from private sources and local governments.

Defendant: Leilani Hillis

Criminal Charges: Mail Fraud and Tax Fraud

City and State: Rockford, Illinois

Date: 05/23/2023

Sentence: 37 months in prison

Restitution: $632,718.99 on the mail fraud charge and $151,186.91 on the tax fraud charge

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-director-operations-rockford-non-profit-organization-sentenced-prison-fraud