Two additional official misconduct charges have been filed against a former administrator of the Knox County jail accused of diverting more than $100,000 from the jail commissary account for personal use.
Louis A. Glossip, 46, is now charged with nine felonies, including two counts of theft over $100,000, one count of theft between $10,000 and $100,000, one count of forgery, and five counts of official misconduct.
Charging documents allege Glossip gained unauthorized access to the commissary account and diverted the funds between 2017 and 2023, and that he committed forgery in 2023 when he entered more than $200,000 in the TurnKey commissary accounting system to reconcile it.
They also allege Glossip failed to keep an accurate accounting of commissary purchases, sales, and expenditures as required under state administrative code, that he gained personal profit from accessing the commissary account, and that he knowingly broke the law.
The alleged theft was from the jail commissary account, not from funds that belonged to people detained at the jail.
Knox County Treasurer Robin Davis told TSPR the commissary account is not part of the county treasury. Instead, it’s one of several accounts affiliated with county departments, including sheriff sales and some county clerk funds, maintained outside the county’s financial system, because it is revenue administered by those county departments rather than general county tax funds.
“It is maintained separately by the Sheriff’s Office,” Davis said of the commissary account.
But Davis said county auditors have repeatedly recommended that department-controlled accounts provide bank reconciliations and run through the county treasury, saying the county otherwise cannot see how revenue is received or how funds are spent.
“They have not been provided as of last year’s audit,” Davis said.
Knox County State’s Attorney Ashley Worby is prosecuting the case. This month, Illinois Assistant Attorney General Nemura Pencyla was added as co-counsel for the state. Pencyla is an attorney with the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau, which handles cases involving misconduct by government employees.
Worby told TSPR she typically seeks out the Attorney General’s Office for co-prosecution in complex litigation cases or cases in which she does not have a lot of specialized experience.
“In this case, the volume of evidence involved and the complexity of the legal issues is such that I believed it was best to seek co-prosecution,” Worby said.
She said the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office currently has just two felony attorneys to prosecute cases from theft to murder, while the Illinois Attorney General’s Office has attorneys that specialize in different areas.
“The Attorney General's Office also provides attorneys who specialize in motion practice, which is immensely helpful to us, especially in a complex financial case spanning six years worth of allegations,” Worby said.
Glossip is represented by private defense attorneys Elisa Nelson and Andrew Stuckart. Last week, his attorneys filed a motion for a Bill of Particulars, asking the court to require prosecutors to provide more specific details about the allegations underlying the charges.
They say the charges cover a broad range of dates and aggregate sums. They are asking for an itemization of each incident of unauthorized access, the methods by which the money was allegedly taken, and other details about the allegations.
A status hearing in the case is scheduled for May 6.
Glossip worked in jail administration as early as 2015 until 2023. Prior to that, he had worked for the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office.
In October 2023, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the FBI and Illinois State Police regarding a theft allegation involving Glossip.
ISP’s Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 2 assisted the FBI Quad Cities office with the investigation before the case was turned over to the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Charges were filed on Feb. 27, with amended and additional charges filed April 8. Glossip pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.
An index of FBI investigative materials reviewed by TSPR indicates the investigation was wide-ranging and the case was presented to a federal grand jury before it was turned over to the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office.
In addition to interviewing county officials and jail staff and reviewing bank records, federal investigators also examined hotel, casino, and other gambling-related records, as well as a rental agreement and invoice from a local wedding venue and a contract with a wedding photographer.
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