Part-time Marina City residents in plea deal for grant money scheme

9-Sep-14 – Marina City has again shown up in the background of a case in United States District Court against two part-time residents.

The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing for a trial in Springfield, Illinois, against four people accused of various counts of mail fraud and money laundering. Two of the defendants own two condominium units in River North at Marina City and the indictment claims money from a fraud scheme went to maintain at least one of the units.

Edmond Clemons, age 68, and Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, age 59, 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.

Also charged are two Chicagoans, Leon Dingle, Jr., and his wife, Karin Dingle. All four have pleaded not guilty but on Friday the Chicago Tribune reported that Clemons and Kilpatrick are negotiating deals in which they would plead guilty to lesser charges.

The indictment filed on October 5, 2012, details millions of dollars the four allegedly received from 2004 to 2010 in grant money that was misappropriated. Of more than $11 million in grants for programs related to cancer, HIV/AIDS, and emergency preparedness, as much as $3.7 million, it says, went for personal use.

The money was spent on vacation homes in Georgia and South Carolina, a Mercedes car, membership in the Chicago Yacht Club and Mid-America Club – located on the 80th floor of Aon Center – as well as certificates of deposit and other expenses.

Some of that money, according to the indictment, went to maintain a condo unit at Marina City that was used by Clemons and Kilpatrick. The indictment does not specify which unit is involved or if both are involved.

The trial was scheduled to start Monday but has been rescheduled to October 20.

[Both Kilpatrick and Clemons pleaded guilty – Kilpatrick, to mail fraud and filing a false income tax return and Clemons, to filing a false income tax return.]

In the 1960s, two Marina City residents with clear mob connections were indicted on federal charges, one condo board president was indicted in 1987, and in 2006, Dr. Gary Kimmel was charged with money laundering and served 37 months in a federal prison.