Margaret "Peggy" Curtin, former executive director of Hospital Sisters Health System St. John's Children's Hospital in Springfield, Ill., pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $700,000 from the hospital over a 6.5-year period ending in 2014, according to The State Journal-Register.
Ms. Curtin was arrested Sept. 22. At the time, she was still serving as head of St. John's Children's Hospital. Allegedly, she had embezzled money from the hospital from December 2008 until September 2014.
Ms. Curtin's sentencing is set for Aug. 14. She has admitted to 11 felony charges in connection with the embezzlement. She pleaded guilty to seven counts of forgery, one count of wire fraud, one count of theft and two counts of money laundering, according to the report.
John Milhiser, Sangamon County State's Attorney, said if the case had gone to trial, the state would have presented evidence that the former hospital administrator submitted false invoices to the hospital from MLC Associates, which supposedly provided data storage services, though no services were actually provided, according to the report. Allegedly, Ms. Curtin took the checks the hospital sent as payment and deposited them into a bank account for MLC Associates, which was listed under the same address as her former home.
The most serious charges Ms. Curtin is facing — theft and money laundering — are Class 1 felonies that are punishable by a term of four to 15 years in prison. All sentences she receives will run concurrently, according to the report.