Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS December 22, 2016 Volume 50, Number 10 - $1.00
Highs and Lows
Dear Santa
Jail Location
The Hawks started off strong in Forreston but finished sour against Dakota. B1
Read letters that students wrote to Santa. Inside
An Oregon resident asks the county board to consider a different jail location. A9
Parking rules are discussed
Harn guilty Receives 4 years probation for stealing money while sheriff By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Former Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn will not serve time in jail for the theft of county funds while he was in office. Harn, 55, pleaded guilty in Ogle County Court Monday afternoon to two counts of theft, both Class 2 felonies, reversing the not guilty pleas he entered during a Nov. 10 court appearance. In accordance with a plea agreement, Judge Val Gunnarsson sentenced him to 48 months probation and ordered him to immediately pay $10,600 in restitution to the Ogle County Treasurer. Special Prosecutor Dave Neal, of the Illinois Office of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, told Gunnarsson that he and Harn’s attorney John Nocita, West Chicago, had reached a plea agreement.
Gunnarsson, a Carroll County Judge appointed to preside over the case, went over the charges and the plea agreement and asked Harn if he understood. Harn replied, “Yes, Sir.” When Gunnarsson asked how he pled, Harn quietly answered guilty to each count. “You were a public servant of this county, and I’m sure you recognize that you grossly violated that trust,” Gunnarsson told Harn before passing sentence. Gunnarsson also ordered Harn to perform 384 hours of public service work and to pay $2,312 in court costs immediately. The judge questioned why Harn had not yet reported to the District 1 state police headquarters in Sterling for booking and fingerprinting, as he had been ordered to at the Nov. 10 hearing. He ordered Harn to complete that requirement
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Michael Harn (right) sits at the defendant’s table with his attorney, John Nocita of West Chester Monday afternoon in Ogle County Court. As part of a plea deal, Harn received 4 years probation.
within 24 hours as a condition of his probation. Gunnarsson also gave permission for Harn’s probation to be transferred from Ogle County to Peoria County, if that can be arranged, because he is now living in Morton. Gunnarsson cautioned Harn that he will be responsible to pay any costs associated with the transfer. Harn served as Ogle County sheriff from 2010 to 2014 before being defeated by current sheriff Brian VanVickle in the 2014 Republican Primary. His salary was $87,000 per year.
Prior to being elected sheriff, Harn was an Ogle County deputy for several years. He was charged Oct. 12 with two counts of felony theft. According to court documents, he is accused of buying numerous items with county funds, including electronic equipment, boat equipment, radiocontrolled toys, party tents, coolers, weapons, hunting guns, Harley-Davidson clothing and accessories, adult novelty items, and outdoor fountains. The list goes on to Turn to A3
Unger challenging Elsasser for post A former Mt. Morris Village President is seeking to regain the post in the April 4 Consolidated Election. Greg Unger, who served two terms as village president and several years as trustee, is challenging current Village President Dan Elsasser for the post.
Elsasser defeated Unger by 20 votes in April of 2013. Four residents have thrown their hats in the ring for three village trustee seats. Jerry Stauffer, Jim Hopkins, Buck Cowen, and Mike Fay are seeking the four-year posts. Current trustees Jon
Murray, Don Sorenson, and Tim Harvey did not seek reelection to the board. In the Oregon School District four candidates, all currently seated on the board, are running for four posts. Mike Guzman, Corey Buck, Stephanie Hall, and Bryan Wills are seeking four-
The Mt. Morris Village Board stopped short Dec. 13 of approving an ordinance limiting parking on East Front Street. Village President Dan Elsasser said that the problem has diminished since an article appeared in the Dec. 1 Mt. Morris Times that described the board’s intention to limit parking to residential only on the south side of the 400 block. Former village president Steve Mongan, 407 E. Front St., asked the board Nov. 22 to limit the parking in that area because he said employees at Sullivan’s Foods are being told by supervisors that they cannot park their vehicles in the store’s parking lot. Consequently they are parking on the street which leaves no space for residents in front of their own homes. Mongan said the store parking lot is ample for employees and customers. Board members agreed last week to hold off taking action unless the problem recurs.
Trustee Phil Labash said that since village attorney Rob LeSage has already prepared the ordinance, it can be put into effect any time it becomes necessary. “If we see a problem, we’re one meeting away from enacting this,” he said. Trustee Shane Pope agreed. “The gun is loaded,” he said. In another matter, the board approved a real estate tax abatement that’s part of the economic incentive agreement with Sullivan’s Foods. The abatement is part of an agreement with the store’s owners made more than two years ago to convince them to build a new store in the village. The upcoming tax year will be the first year the agreement will be in effect. Elsasser said that according to the terms of the agreement, Sullivan’s will get a 100 percent abatement of the village’s portion of real estate taxes on the store until a total of $140,000 is reached. In other business the board: • agreed to cancel the Tuesday, Dec. 27 meeting.
Mongan will not face felony charges
year terms on the board. The filing period for the spring election was Dec. 1219. Other races on the April 4 ballot are community college An Ogle County grand districts, library districts, jury declined to indict an fire protection districts, Oregon man accused of townships, park districts, and boating drunk and causing a forest preserve districts. crash that killed a Rockford woman in June. Marc W. Mongan, 46, will not be charged with a felony in the death of Megan Wells, 31, Ogle County State’s Attorney Eric Morrow said in a news release Monday afternoon. After listening to witness testimony, watching video statements and considering other evidence, the jurors failed to find probable cause to levy the more severe charges of felony operating a watercraft under the influence of alcohol and aggravated reckless operation of a watercraft, Morrow said.
The first could have carried 3 to 14 years in prison, the second 1 to 3 years. Under Illinois law, a finding of probable cause is necessary to bind a defendant over for trial on felony charges. “We respect the decision of the grand jury and believe that the jurors gave thoughtful consideration to the evidence presented,” Morrow said in the release. “Without a finding of probable cause, my office is not legally able to proceed with felony charges.” Mongan still faces misdemeanor charges of operating a watercraft while under the influence and Turn to A9
Man charged with molesting young girl Fountain Unearthed A crew from Rod Bennett Construction Company drill through the concrete and carefully remove the fountain and base on the downtown campus earlier this month. Village of Mt. Morris employees, local sculptor Jeff Adams, and Mt. Morris Work Group volunteers joined forces with the Bennett workers to unearth and safely transport the 112-year-old fountain from the campus to inBronze Foundry for molding and bronze casting this winter. Turn to A3 to read about the project. Photo by Doug Wean
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5 Library News, A2
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B5
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
A Rochelle man was arrested Monday on a charge that he sexually molested a young girl. Richard J. Christensen, 70, was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Christensen is accused of having sexual contact with the girl from January of 2008 until December of 2014 in Kings. Christensen appeared in
Richard J. Christensen
court Tuesday and is being held in the Ogle County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.
Deaths, B4 Dorothy M. Broege, Michael W. Hokanson, Michael A. Stocker, Lois E. Voss, Isabelle A. Wisner
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com