A Lake County judge Friday dismissed all criminal counts against Waukegan City Clerk Janet Kilkelly, ruling that misleading grand jury testimony compromised indictments that alleged Kilkelly illegally waived fees to local businesses as part of a COVID-era relief effort.
Judge Patricia Fix said the flawed grand jury testimony from an Illinois State Police investigator resulted in due-process violations against Kilkelly, who had been charged in March with 10 counts of official misconduct and misapplication of funds.
Kilkelly was in court and issued a written statement thanking her attorneys and noting that the charges had made the last months, “extremely stressful for me, my family and my friends.”
“I would also like to thank the Waukegan residents who have always supported me, and who sent me their support and their well-wishes during this very difficult time,” she said in the statement. “As someone who has dedicated over 40 years of their life to the Waukegan community, I promise to continue serving and helping all Waukegan residents as their city clerk.”
Her attorneys, Donald Morrison, James Bertucci and Ricardo Meza, issued a joint statement that said in part, “We were always confident that Janet was 100% innocent of all charges and today’s ruling confirms that.”
Prosecutors alleged that Kilkelly had violated an ordinance that granted reductions in liquor licensing fees for local businesses that had been hurt during the pandemic. The license credits were supposed to go to businesses “in good standing.”
However, as the judge noted, there was no definition of what constituted “good standing.” That lack of eligibility criteria makes it impossible to charge Kilkelly with abuses, Fix said.
The indictments also alleged that Kilkelly, when she granted credits to five businesses, was acting as the city’s deputy liquor control commissioner.
However, Kilkelly was the administrative assistant to the liquor commission and was never appointed as the deputy liquor commissioner, the judge noted. The Illinois State Police investigator, though, told grand jurors that Kilkelly did hold the deputy title.
During a later court hearing, the investigator, Special Agent David Juergensen, testified that he assumed Kilkelly was the deputy commissioner.
The judge said police and prosecutors have weighty responsibilities to analyze all facts and evidence that goes before a grand jury.
“Inexplicably and sadly, in this case, performance in these roles was sorely deficient, causing the grand jury to be misled as to critical and material information directly relevant to all these charges,” Fix said in her ruling.
“Indeed, had ALL the facts been initially known and presented to the grand jury, there would likely have been a different outcome,” Fix wrote.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor declined comment.
Kilkelly is seeking re-election in April, and is running unopposed.
