Woman who posed as Madison County public defender gets plea deal, probation sentence
A woman who masqueraded as an attorney while working for the Madison County public defender’s office pleaded guilty Friday to a single felony count of false impersonation of an attorney.
Kelcie Miller, 26, of Edwardsville, will serve 30 months probation and pay $40,232 restitution as part of a plea deal. She was fired from the public defender’s office in May and charged with three felonies after she worked in the office as an assistant on many cases without a law license.
Related forgery and theft charges were dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Miller declined to make a statement when given the opportunity by Judge Ronald Slemer. She also declined comment to the Belleville News-Democrat. At trial, she was represented by Attorney Edwards Deters.
“The fraud that Ms. Miller perpetrated on, not only the citizens of Madison County, but the court and most importantly her clients was a complete breach of trust,” said Madison County Assistant State’s Attorney Crystal Uhe. “I’m happy that the citizens of Madison County will get restitution.”
Uhe said the terms and length of Miller’s restitution will be decided at a later date.
“This is not reflective of the great work the Madison County public defenders office does on a regular basis and they are victims in this particular case too,” Uhe said.
Questionable credentials
Questions arose about Miller’s certifications after a court official was unable to independently verify her credentials and brought it to the attention of her then supervisor. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office then were asked to investigate.
According to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s office, when asked for proof of her license to practice law, Miller made several justifications as to why she could not present her Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission card, which is granted to attorneys after passing the bar exam and completing the registration and licensing process.
According to the charging documents, the theft charge stems from the salary and benefits Miller collected while working in the public defender’s office. As for the forgery charge, Miller was accused of presenting Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski with a fake Illinois Attorney Registration Card that stated she was active and authorized to practice law in the state.
She was arrested May 29.
At the time, Rekowski said that he didn’t ask Miller or any other job candidates over 35 years, to show proof that they passed the bar exam before hiring them. Miller failed the bar exam twice, according to Rekowski.
Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said in a statement that the allegations in Miller’s case were “some of the most unusual I’ve ever seen in over 20 years practicing law.”
‘On notice’ with future employers
After Miller’s guilty plea, Gibbons said in a statement the conviction ensures the people of Madison County will be repaid in full.
“While taxpayers will be made whole, it may take some time to restore full confidence in the justice system,” he said. “This is perhaps the greatest harm caused by the defendant’s deception.”
He added that Miller will never practice law again in Illinois and that any potential future employers will be “on notice” about the “level of deception” he said Miller is capable of.
Since her arrest, new charges have been brought against Miller. In June, she was charged with writing bad checks in Winnebago County after she paid an apartment rental company in Rockford with checks she allegedly knew would not clear.
Due to the charges brought against Miller, eight Illinois inmates were recently offered an opportunity to renegotiate their prison sentences or keep the plea deals that had been negotiated by Miller while she was a public defender. All but one decided to keep the deals they had.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 2:08 PM.