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Diane Benjamin's handwritten lawsuit has led to an 111-count indictment against former management officials of the Bloomington U.S. Cellular Arena, according to the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW).
The lawsuit came about atfer Benjamin, news editor of the online Bloomington-Normal News Nobody Else Reports, submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that were denied by city of Bloomington and its mayor, the ECW said on its Illinois Leaks website.
Those charged are John Butler, former president of Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM); Bart Rogers, CIAM former general manager; and ex-employees Jay Laesch, Paul Grazar and Kelly Klein. The indictment listed accusations of money laundering, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit tax evasion, and filing false tax returns, according to The Pantagraph.
John Butler
| http://wglt.org/post/coliseum-probe-begs-question-why-didnt-city-know#stream/0
All five defendants posted bond.
CIAM was in charge of managing the Cellular Arena for a decade from its 2006 opening. VenuWorks took over last year 2016.
The charges were outlined in the Pantagraph, which said Butler faces 44 counts of money laundering, theft of government funds, wire fraud, filing false sales tax returns and conspiracy to commit tax evasion. He is represented by Urbana lawyer Steven Beckett.
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