Husband Of Former Country Club Hills Police Chiefsentenced For His Role In $1.25 Million Grant Fraud Scheme

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Ronald W. Evans, Jr., husband of former Country Club Hills police chief Regina R. Evans, was sentenced today for his role in a fraud scheme that misused state grant money awarded in 2009 to We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, a not-for-profit program owned and operated by the couple. U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough ordered that Evans serve 12 months in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement and two years of supervised release. Evans, 47, was allowed to remain on bond and was ordered to self-report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 8, 2014. Evans was also ordered to pay restitution, joint and severally, with his wife, in the amount of $917,194, to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Ron Evans pled guilty on Aug. 1, 2013, to one count each of money laundering and wire fraud. His wife, Regina Evans, pled guilty on June 17, 2013, to charges of fraud, and was sentenced on May 1, 2014, to serve five years in prison and to pay restitution. In a separate case, Regina Evans also pled guilty and was sentenced for obstruction of justice, witness tampering and conspiracy to obstruct justice and witness tampering.          

According to court documents and statements, a $1,250,000 state grant awarded to Ron and Regina Evans on behalf of We Are Our Brother’s Keeper was misused for the couple’s personal benefit, their family members, friends, and associates, and for repayment of indebtedness, and little, if any, of the training proposed in the grant agreement was ever completed. The grant agreement provided for an estimated 40 participants to receive bricklaying and electrical pre-apprenticeship training and GED preparation, at the Regal Theater, another entity owned by the Evanses.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass prosecuted the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.  The investigation was conducted by participating agencies of the Central District of Illinois’ U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Public Corruption Task Force including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Chicago Division; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations; and, the Illinois Secretary of State Office of Inspector General.  Individuals who wish to provide information to law enforcement regarding matters of public corruption are urged to call the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 217-492-4450.