Former East St. Louis official sentenced for misconduct, barred from public office
June Olivette Hamilton, the former East St. Louis administrator and city council member, was convicted by a St. Clair County jury last fall on one count each of forgery and public contractor misconduct.
Tuesday, St. Clair County Circuit Judge John O’Gara, defense attorney, Lloyd Cueto, and prosecutors agreed the two charges should be merged and that Hamilton would be sentenced on the misconduct charge alone.
Cueto also argued unsuccessfully that his client should be granted a new trial.
Hamilton, 56, was ordered to serve 30 months probation, pay a $500 fine, submit a DNA swab she also must pay for, and do 120 hours of community service. She is prohibited from holding any job in public administration for 10 years and, though she had filed to run as a precinct committeeman on the March primary ballot, is also barred from holding public office.
O’Gara said the public contractor misconduct charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 months probation, a $25,000 fine, or between two to five years in state prison with one year mandatory supervised release.
When he said Hamilton’s sentence would not include a prison term, a group of about 25 supporters let out a collective sigh that was audible throughout the courtroom. Some clapped, others said “thank you” out loud.
Hamilton, who went by Hamilton-Dean when she was first charged in 2016, addressed the court after the sentencing.
“At the end of the day, this case was about an unsigned document that was used to get an apartment for a family member. The family member paid the rent and was never late,” said Hamilton. “I have proclaimed my innocence regarding the misuse or stealing of funds from the Township from day one and the federal agent and judge testified to the same today.
“Finally, the truth was revealed. I used poor judgment, but never stole from the city I so desperately love. I look forward to successfully completing the terms of my probation, paying my restitution and continuing with my community service. To God be the glory.”
Hamilton originally was convicted on forgery and Public Contractor Misconduct on Oct. 22 for a letter of reference and employment statement she wrote on behalf of an acquaintance who was trying to lease an apartment. The criminal complaint accused her of “knowingly making a false document with the intent to defraud.”
The conviction cost her a $73,000-per-year job as the city’s community development and TIF director.
Hamilton stared forward as Cueto argued that the prosecution had not met its burden of proof during a brief October trial.
He told the judge that the letter Hamilton was accused of forging was typed and that the space for her signature remained blank, which he argued contradicts the accusation she intended to make a false representation.
Cueto also argued the state did not meet its burden of proof on the Public Contractor Misconduct charge, but instead confused the jury with a general comment made about public corruption.
Assistant state’s attorney Daniel Lewis stood by the jury’s decision, but raised further questions about Hamilton’s place of residence, asking whether she lived on Henrietta Street in East St. Louis or Barbery Lane in Swansea.
The state argued for prison time and for a monitoring device upon her release.
If she’s in prison, “we would know where she is laying her head every night,” Lewis argued.
In her statement to the court, Hamilton recounted her East St. Louis upbringing, her more than 30 years of work for the Defense Department, including as a lead financial analyst and acting branch chief, and her time as an elected official.
“At 19, I raised my hand and took the oath to serve this country honorably for 33 years as a civil servant without a blemish on my record,” she said. “I am not the person described here today by the prosecutors or the BND. Most of the stuff you read in the paper was not true.”
Additional counts of loan fraud relating to funds borrowed for a township youth program were dropped in May. Hamilton’s brother, Oliver Hamilton, served a prison term for wire fraud related to “questionable purchases” on a township credit card while he was East St. Louis Township supervisor.
Hamilton has long stated that the charges were “politically motivated” and that the court was “punishing her for my brother.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 1:20 PM.
