NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
A. COURTNEY COX
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

Nine Executive Drive, Fairview Heights, Illinois 62208, Telephone (618) 628-3700

GLEN CARBON COUPLE INDICTED ON BANKRUPTCY
AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT FRAUD CHARGES

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on July 23, 2008, the Federal Grand Jury sitting in East St. Louis, Illinois, indicted KEITH A. GARY, age 33, and STACIE M. GARY, age 31, of Glen Carbon, Illinois, in a six-count indictment. KEITH A. GARY was charged with four counts of Bankruptcy Fraud. STACIE M. GARY was charged with four counts of Bankruptcy Fraud and a single count of Mail Fraud. Each count of Bankruptcy Fraud carries a penalty of up to five (5) years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or both, and up to three (3) years of supervised release. Mail Fraud carries a penalty of up to twenty (20) years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or both, and up to three (3) years of supervised release.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

Specifically, the indictment alleges that the Defendants deliberately concealed information on a pending workers’ compensation claim from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis and the bankruptcy trustee. The indictment also alleges that STACIE M. GARY used the United States mails to file false claims for benefits to the Illinois Department of Employment Security during times when she was actually employed.

The United States Attorney emphasized, “Our office will continue to vigorously prosecute violations of the bankruptcy laws in cooperation with the Office of the United States Trustee.”

“Concealing assets in a bankruptcy is not only a violation of the law,” stated Nancy J. Gargula, United States Trustee for Indiana and the Central and Southern District of Illinois (Region 10), “it also undermines the integrity of the system and the public’s confidence in that system.”

Evidence supporting the indictment was obtained in an investigation conducted by the Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group for the Southern District of Illinois, which includes representatives of the Office of the United States Attorney; Office of the United States Trustee; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; and the Postal Inspection Service. The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, also participated in this investigation. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Liam Coonan and Special Assistant United States Attorney Mark D. Skaggs, who is a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the United States Trustee in Peoria.