Brickey to pay close to $40,000 in restitution to Morgan County

By Gary Scott on January 17, 2018 at 7:59am

A former county employee pleaded not guilty yesterday to theft and will pay close to $40-thousand dollars in restitution to Morgan County.

Forty-two year old Stacy Brickey, of Murrayville, was formerly employed as an Administrative Assistant with the Morgan County Highway Department. Brickey was accused of stealing thousands of dollars in county property and official misconduct during her time as a county employee.

Assistant State’s Attorney Chad Turner explains some of the details of the case against Brickey.

“Over a course of time during her employment, (Brickey) stole a significant amount of money that she used to purchase things such as gift cards, groceries and other items for her own personal use. It was done basically through like a Morgan County credit account,” says Turner.

Turner says that the state’s attorney’s office filed the case last year, and explains the details of Brickey’s sentencing.

“We resolved it. She plead guilty to the top count which is theft, and she received two years probation, 90 days in the Morgan County jail, a $500 fine plus court costs, and she agreed to pay full restitution to Morgan County, $2,000 of which gets paid immediately from her bond, and she will make payments in the amount of $500 a month until she has paid in full,” says Turner.

Turner says a crime of this nature carries a possible sentencing range of 3 to 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, however it is eligible for probation. He goes over why Brickey received the sentencing she did.

“That doesn’t mean that you can’t rebut that presumption, but it’s a pretty strong presumption that if the legislature allows probation, then that should be the sentence. Ms. Brickey had no history of any kind, so given that presumption and her lack of history, and the county’s need, quite frankly, to be paid bac – had she gone to the department of corrections, we likely would not have been paid back, whereas now she is gainfully employed and can make payments to the county, this was the appropriate sentence,” Turner says.

Brickey will pay exactly $38,824 in restitution to Morgan County.