Former East St. Louis library director sentenced to federal prison for embezzlement

The former director of the East St. Louis Public Library Thursday was sentenced to 12 months in prison on federal charges of embezzlement and wire fraud.

Marlon P. Bush, 47, of East St. Louis, who served as the top administrator for the library from 2014-16, pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to taking excess salary and using the library credit card for personal use.

Bush will also have to serve 6 months of home detention with location monitoring and 2 years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $48,102.86 restitution for purchases he made on a government credit card.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, among Bush’s purchases were tickets to concerts and professional sports games as well as throwing knives, a machete and an ax.

The charges were filed in federal court since the East St. Louis Library receives federal funding.

This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 3:27 PM.