MM_092117

4 | September 21, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.com
Former D210 superintendent indicted on fraud charges
James Sanchez
Contributing Editor
Former Lincoln-Way Community
High
School District
210 superintendent
Lawrence
Wyllie,
who served
from 1989-
2013, has been Wyllie
indicted on
fraud charges, according to a
press release issued Thursday,
Sept. 14, by the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Northern
District of Illinois.
The federal indictment
From sept. 14
states Wyllie misappropriated
school funds for his own
benefit and falsely represented
the true financial deficit
the district was facing.
Wyllie participated in
multiple schemes to obtain
money, including using
$50,000 of school funds to
create Superdog — a dogtraining
school — which had
no benefit to the school, according
to the press release.
The indictment also stated
Wyllie allegedly misappropriated
a combined $30,500
of school funds by falsely
representing the money as
compensation for unused vacation
days as well as paying
himself a retirement stipend
that was not in his contract.
The indictment stated Wyllie
put the district in $7 million
of additional debt by alleged
fraudulent issuance of
bond funds used toward the
district’s operating expenses
and payroll for district employees
when it was supposed
to be used for the construction
and renovation of the Lincoln-
Way high schools.
In 2009, when Wyllie was
challenged about the district’s
financial health, he
allegedly misled the public
by falsely stating the State of
Illinois was behind $5 million
in payments, according
to the indictment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office
has been investigating
District 210’s financial status
since 2016 and turned its attention
toward Wyllie when
it issued a subpoena seeking
all records of salary and
compensation dating back to
the time he was hired.
An arraignment in U.S.
District Court has not yet
been scheduled.
District 210 released
the following statement
shortly after the announced
indictment:
“Today, an indictment was
announced against former
Lincoln-Way Community
High School District 210
Superintendent, Lawrence
Wyllie. District 210 officials
have cooperated with
requests by the federal authorities
throughout this investigation.
“Parents and taxpayers
should be assured that the
Board of Education is committed
to protecting taxpayer
dollars. In July of 2016, the
district hired a new director
of finance. The director oversees
day-to-day accounting
operations and transactions.
In June of 2017, the board
approved the hiring of an
experienced business manager
to oversee all financial
operations and budgeting
services.
“‘This board is committed
to continued oversight and
assessment of district policies
and procedures,’ said
Board of Education President
Joseph Kirkeeng. ‘The
board will continue to work
with the administration to
move this district forward.’”
For more on this and other
breaking news, visit MokenaMes
senger.com.
crossfit
From Page 3
Broker - Management Team
“10”
Blossom’s still in training
and will be for another
year, but once she’s finished,
she’ll be given to a vet, free
of charge, to help with a
wide range of tasks.
“We only train service
dogs for veterans who have
PTSD as their primary diagnosis;
although, we do have
secondary or co-occurring
disorders that some of the
veterans struggle with, so oftentimes
[the dogs] do support
PTSD with TBI, which
is traumatic brain injury,”
said Training Director at
1Pet1Vet, Peggy Moran.
“The tasks that they perform
are pretty specific to
the veteran’s needs. But,
generally, they have to deal
with calming when there’s
an anxiety-inducing situation,
helping to do an extraction
when the veteran is
starting to hit the panic disorder
level, reminding them
to take their medication, or
retrieve their medication,
when they’re seeing symptoms
that might indicate
their own level of care, the
dog can help with that,” Moran
said.
The dogs are trained to
work with a specific veteran
and his or her specific needs,
which can vary considerably
and is reflected in a dog’s
ability to perform certain
tasks.
“The dog can be trained to
go and get a family member.
The dogs can lead them back
to their car; if they start to
get panicky or feel distressed
in a public place and don’t
remember where they park,
the dog will lead them back
to their car. And it goes from
there,” Moran said.
“There’s all kinds of things
these dogs are trained to do.
It really varies from individual
to individual what they
need. But, across the board,
most of them suffer from social
anxiety, panic disorder
and those are the primary
areas where the dogs are the
most immediate help.”
Another benefit is that the
vets who will eventually receive
the dog actively participates
in its training.
“The veterans participate
in all of the training with the
dogs,” Moran said. “And
Blossom can hardly bear to watch 25 people at a time,
every half hour, work and sweat to raise funds for her
charity. CrossFit Mokena raised $4,600 for 1Pet1Vet.
T.J. Kremer III/22nd Century Media
they’re learning skills and
techniques that apply to the
dog, but also discreetly applies
to them; as they’re
teaching their dogs to be unafraid
in a public setting, and
their focus is so on their dog to
help their dog get through it,
they are made less aware … it
overshadows, I would say, the
distress for themselves.”
Stephen Tranowski, a
Frankfort resident and U.S.
Army vet, said he had only
heard about the charity and
the event on Sunday, but
was thrilled to find out about
them.
“I think it’s absolutely
awesome,” Tranowski said.
But, when he described
what it was like to be a member
at CrossFit, it seemed obvious
the gym would make
such a charitable effort.
“The group atmosphere
helps you get through the
workout. Coming back, it’s
basically like a second family,”
Tranowski said.
Local businesses also
chipped in for the effort. Dr.
Scott Kenny, of Integrated
Physical Medicine in New
Lenox, was on hand to give
massages; Joe Leonard, of
Healthy Nation Catering in
Frankfort, donated $1.50 out
of every $10 plate of food
people bought; and Marissa
Spade, from SDC Nutrition,
was there making mini,
high-powered pancakes to
get everyone fueled up.
And there were two walls
lined with donations of gift
cards and baskets for a silent
auction.
The day began at 8:30
a.m. with a special half hour
workout just for children.
They ran and rowed, played
and did pushups, worked
hard for 30 minutes straight.
Greg Mattes, who was
there with his son, Ryker,
10 — who can deadlift 150
pounds — said he enjoys
CrossFit because of the multiple
benefits compared with
a less strenuous one.
“The physical activity,
as far as the cardio workout
you get along with the
weight training, the combination
of the two, is just really
good for overall health,”
Mattes said.
And it doesn’t hurt that the
money was going to a good
cause, either.
“Anytime we can support
things that are going on with
local charities … we come
out to support it,” the Plainfield
native Mattes said.