The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa announced today (Tuesday) the former city clerk in Casey has entered a plea of guilty to charges associated with a scheme to defraud the City and cover-up the evidence. 61-year old Dorothy L. Dillinger Tuesday (today) pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of malicious use of fire.

Dillinger admitted to engaging in a scheme to defraud the City of Casey from around 2009 until August 2014, while serving as the City Clerk. As part of that scheme, she admitted that she used the City’s credit card and funds to purchase items for personal use without the knowledge or approval of the City Council. Dillinger used the United States Postal Service to mail City checks to pay the resulting credit card statements.

Dillinger also admitted to making unauthorized payments to herself for personal expenses without City Council approval or knowledge. She failed to disclose these expenditures to both the City Council, as well as in minutes from City Council meetings.

Dillinger also admitted to maliciously destroying the City of Casey Community Building, which was used in activities affecting interstate commerce, by means of fire. The city building was destroyed by fire from the late night of August 19th into the morning of August 20th in 2014.

Dillinger faces a statutory sentence of at least five (5) years and up to twenty (20) years in prison, as well as financial penalties and a term of supervised release. As part of the plea agreement, Dillinger agreed to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the court at sentencing.

Sentencing is scheduled for at 10:30 a.m. on September 26th at the United States Courthouse in Des Moines.