A former Winchester EMS employee and board member has pleaded guilty to three felony theft charges stemming from an investigation into the misuse of funds belonging to the Scott County emergency medical service.
48-year-old Jennifer J. McMillen of Winchester entered guilty pleas to two Class 2 felony counts of theft and one Class 3 felony count of theft during a hearing Friday in Scott County Circuit Court.
According to online court records, the remaining 13 charges against McMillen, including seven counts of wire fraud, were dismissed as part of a negotiated plea agreement.
Under the agreement, Scott County State’s Attorney Richard Crews has agreed not to seek incarceration in the Illinois Department of Corrections. McMillen has also agreed to pay restitution connected to all 16 original charges, with the amount to be determined by the court at sentencing.
The case has been referred to the probation department for a pre-sentence investigation.
McMillen was originally charged in July 2025 following a two-month investigation by the Illinois State Police Special Investigation Unit into unauthorized purchases and transfers of funds at Winchester EMS.
Investigators reviewed financial transactions dating back four years, with the alleged offenses occurring between August 2021 and April 2025.
The original criminal information filed by Crews included nine counts of theft and seven counts of wire fraud. Two of the theft charges involved amounts exceeding $10,000 but less than $100,000.
At the time charges were announced, Crews said investigators had found no evidence that taxpayer funds provided by the newly established special service area tax provided to Winchester EMS by Scott County had been misused. Those funds were held in a separate payroll account at another bank.
McMillen’s case was originally assigned to Scott County Circuit Judge David Cherry before being reassigned to Sangamon County Circuit Judge Daniel K. Wright in July 2025.
Sentencing has been scheduled for December 22nd at 10 o’clock in the morning before Judge Wright.