18-Dec-14 – With two guilty verdicts on Wednesday, all four people, including two River North residents, accused of misusing millions of dollars in state grant money are waiting to be sentenced by a United States District Court.

Leon Dingle, Jr., age 77, and his wife, Karin Dingle, age 75, are accused of taking money – that was supposed to pay for campaigns to raise awareness of health issues in under-served communities – and spending it on vacation homes, fancy cars, and other luxuries.

Also charged were Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, age 59, the Dingle’s bookkeeper for more than 30 years, and her friend, 68-year-old Edmond Clemons, both of whom pleaded guilty to mail and tax fraud and await sentencing.

Kilpatrick and Clemons live together in a suburb of Phoenix but own two studio units at Marina City, one on the 36th floor of the west tower and the other on the 51st floor of the east tower. The indictment claims money from the fraud scheme went to maintain at least one of the units.

An attorney for the Dingles put the blame on Kilpatrick, saying she was stealing grant money and falsifying records to cover it. Ed Genson also says Kilpatrick has a previous conviction for forgery.

Of $11 million in grant money received from Illinois Department of Public Health from 2004 to 2010, prosecutors say $3.4 million went to personal use, including vacation homes in Georgia and South Carolina, a Mercedes car, membership in the Chicago Yacht Club (above) and Mid-America Club – located on the 80th floor of Aon Center, certificates of deposit, and $97,000 used to pay the Dingle’s son’s mortgage.

Sentencing, scheduled for April 9, could include more than ten years in prison, hundreds of thousand of dollars in fines, and forfeiture of assets to help repay the stolen grant money.