Cass County Man Heading to Federal Prison After Defrauding Two Central IL School Districts

By Benjamin Cox on July 22, 2021 at 8:59am

A Cass County man is heading to federal prison following a conviction of defrauding two Central Illinois school districts.

48 year old Daniel Brue of Virginia and formerly of Beardstown was sentenced on Monday to 2 years and 9 months in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years of mandatory supervised release, following his conviction on four counts of wire fraud related to his theft from the Bement and Meridian school districts while working as their superintendent. Brue has also been ordered to pay restitution totaling over $343,000.

Brue, who pleaded guilty to the charges, admitted that he abused his position by embezzling money from both school districts by creating and registering a fake company and then fraudulently invoicing the school districts for construction work that was never performed between 2011 and 2019. Brue was allowed to remain free on bond to seek work during the trial, and he is currently employed with JBS in Beardstown, according to the Journal Courier.

Agents from the FBI Field Office in Springfield and the Macon County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Brue remains on bond until he reports for his prison sentence on September 21st.