Former Lincoln-Way Superintendent's Hearing Postponed Again

NEW LENOX, IL — Former Lincoln-Way District 210 Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie's federal fraud trial is facing yet another delay. Wyllie was indicted in 2017 on five counts of wire fraud and a single count of embezzlement, and his trial was supposed to start in November 2018, but the trial has been delayed several times.

According to court documents from the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, a status hearing was planned for November, but has now been pushed to March 17.

Documents were also filed in February 2019 (which pushed the status hearing to May), May 2019 (which pushed the status hearing to August) and August 2019 (which pushed the status hearing to November 2019).

Patch reported in 2018 that Wyllie's medical records were filed in court under seal. At that time, lawyers for both sides agreed that Wyllie's health wouldn't allow him to be ready for an upcoming jury trial.

Wyllie is accused of misusing school district bond money to finance his personal projects. That included allegedly spending $50,000 on Superdog, a dog-training school. The federal indictment also accuses Wyllie of concealing the district's "true financial health" while he was superintendent.

While under his leadership, the district allegedly generated at least $7 million in additional debt, according to the complaint. In 2015, Lincoln-Way landed on the state's financial watch list, which led to the closing of Lincoln-Way North High School in June 2016. If convicted, Wyllie could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count. The embezzlement charge carries a maximum 10-year sentence if convicted.

Wyllie is being represented by Winston & Strawn LLP, a law firm in Chicago.