Winnebago County Woman Who Embezzled Funds From a Booster Club Sentenced to Six Months in Federal Prison and Ordered To Pay Full Restitution

ROCKFORD - A former Treasurer of a booster club in Rockford, Ill. has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for embezzling more than $44,000 from a booster club.

SHONDRA MCLARTY, 55, embezzled and stole money from the Tumbling and Acro Boosters Club ("TAB") from 2023 to 2024 while she served as Treasurer. During this 10-month period, McLarty fraudulently used TAB's business debit card and fraudulently caused TAB to issue business checks, which she used for personal expenses such as Netflix, dog grooming, a Menards purchase, a stretch limousine, and a partial payment for a vacation to Cancún, Mexico. McLarty also concealed her misappropriation of funds by changing the mailing address of TAB's business bank accounts to her personal residence.

McLarty, of Rockton, Ill., pleaded guilty to wire fraud earlier this year. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced McLarty to six months in federal prison and ordered her to pay full restitution.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ryan Whalen, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation.

"Defendant's actions were deliberate and repeated, not the product of negligence or confusion," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "[The sentence] will signal to others who might be tempted to engage in similar schemes that such conduct carries significant consequences."