ROCKFORD – Ousted Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell’s criminal case may be headed into the final stages.
During a short hearing Wednesday morning, Crundwell’s attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Pedersen agreed to send the case to Federal Judge Philip Reinhard.
The case has been in front of Magistrate P. Michael Mahoney since Crundwell’s arrest April 17 at City Hall on a federal wire fraud charge.
Magistrate judges typically handle most pretrial matters, including arraignments and setting bond conditions, according to a U.S. courts website.
Crundwell will appear before Reinhard at 9 a.m. Nov. 14. The defense has until then to file any pretrial motions.
Prosecutors say the 59-year-old Dixon woman misappropriated more than $53 million in city funds since 1990.
Crundwell told federal agents that she used some of the money to fund her horse operations, according to the indictment.
She also is charged with 60 counts of theft in Lee County. She has not yet appeared in court on those charges.
Public Defender Paul Gaziano told Mahoney Wednesday morning that the defense has received 17,000 pages of discovery, including 2,000 pages the past couple weeks.
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