A local woman is facing multiple federal charges after being accused of embezzling money from 2020-2022 as an employee at Dupo Community Unit School District 196.

She had worked for the school district nearly 30 years.

A grand jury last week charged Linda J. Johnson, 57, of Waterloo, with three counts of theft from federally funded programs. If convicted, Johnson could face up to 10 years in prison and/or $250,000 in fines per count.

“When individuals steal funds from school districts, they selfishly place themselves above the students, faculty and community as a whole,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe.

According to federal court documents, Johnson worked in an administrative role in the superintendent’s office for the Dupo school district, overseeing the district’s activities account with funds for student athletics, clubs and extracurricular programs.

The federal indictment charges that Johnson received control over cash and checks intended to be deposited into the district’s activities account.

She would prepare bank deposit slips reflecting the correct amount of cash and checks received, but then prepared a second set of fraudulent deposit slips that only accounted for checks while she kept the cash, the news release states.

The loss to the school district is estimated to be more than $100,000.

“The FBI has a solemn responsibility to investigate allegations of public corruption and the abuse of power by any public servant,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Rodriguez. “We would like to thank the Dupo Police Department for their assistance and proactive efforts in this investigation.”

Dupo Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kelly Carpenter told the Republic-Times that Johnson was employed by the district from 1993 to 2022. 

The superintendent said the matter was first brought to light by the school board. 

“In October 2022, the Board of Education became aware of discrepancies in certain district fund accounts and deposits. Therefore, they initiated an investigation into improper management of district funds,” Carpenter said in a statement. “Due to the severity of the fund discrepancies, the Board of Education referred the matter to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The Board of Education worked tirelessly to investigate and resolve the issues that came to light regarding the district’s finances and expenditures and has handed the matter over to the authorities for consideration.”

The FBI Springfield Field Office and Dupo police are leading the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Weinhoeft is prosecuting the case against Johnson.