Ex-Lake County Coroner Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanors

WAUKEGAN, IL — Former Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of disregarding the election code, more than a year after he was indicted on perjury charges for signing his name to nominating petitions filled with signatures he did not collect. Prosecutors dropped the more serious felony charges but included a five-year ban on holding public office and two years of conditional discharge.

Rudd will also pay $10,000 in fines – half to the county and half to the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, according to the deal approved by Lake County Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti. The deal means the 71-year-old Lake Forest resident will avoid jail time.

After the plea agreement was approved, Rudd told reporters he was "glad" the legal battle was over, but "saddened the state spent so much time and money on this for an error made on a clerical form." He had been due to stand trial in May.

Prosecutors accused Rudd of lying when he swore he had been present as signatures were being collected for his nominating paperwork ahead of the March 2016 Democratic primary. More than a dozen turned out to be fraudulent.

Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim recused his office from the case and handed it over to the state's appellate court prosecutor's office. The first prosecutor was indicted, the second stepped aside for personal reasons and the third negotiated Rudd's plea deal.

Rudd's lawyer, Jed Stone, has described the charges as politically motivated and his client as an American hero, according to the Daily Herald. He said that the dismissal of the more serious charges meant that justice had prevailed but criticized the ban on Rudd's immediate return to public office.

"But the public good has been injured by the prosecutors who deny the public the thoughtful and truthful services of this great and decent man."

The defense attorney said the charges of disregarding election law did not have anything to do with how well Rudd performed his duties as coroner, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

"To the contrary, Tom Rudd dutifully served his constituents and always sought the truth using medicine and science as his guiding principles," Stone said. "He fearlessly challenged politicians and corrupt law enforcement officials with evidence based on medicine."

Officials with the offices of the Lake County Sheriff and State's Attorney had denied Stone's allegations that the charges against Rudd were retaliatory. The ex-coroner's lawyer has suggested Rudd's prosecution was motivated by his contradiction of the narratives presented by law enforcement officials in widely publicized cases – like the staged suicide of Fox Lake Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz and the murder conviction of day care worker Melissa Caluskinki.