Randolph County investigators say a longtime local ambulance provider has been rocked by a massive theft case, with a former Sparta employee now under arrest after more than $1 million allegedly went missing from the company’s coffers. Prosecutors say 43-year-old Carrie J. Kelley was taken into custody without incident and now faces a slate of felony charges. The arrest caps a multi-year review that county officials say exposed irregularities in the ambulance company’s records.
Charges and arrest
According to NBC Chicago, Kelley has been booked on two counts of theft of property over $1,000,000, one count of wire fraud, and four counts of fraudulent filing of Illinois income tax. Sheriff’s officials told the outlet that investigators believe the losses piled up over the course of several years, and that Kelley was arrested by Randolph County deputies working alongside investigators from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Authorities have not yet released additional specifics about how the alleged scheme operated.
Sheriff credits investigators
Sheriff Jarrod Peters, in comments relayed to NBC Chicago, praised the team that stayed on the case through years of number crunching and follow-up interviews.
“I want to credit the investigators who continued to work on this case and bring a closure to it,” Peters said, adding that their persistence helped lead to Kelley’s arrest and thanking the state agencies that assisted with the probe.
MedStar background and regional context
MedStar Ambulance lists its corporate office in Sparta on its website and says it serves communities across southern Illinois. The company’s contact page points to a Bradbury Lane address in Sparta as its corporate home base.
A U.S. Department of Justice press release describes a separate 2018 federal prosecution in which a former MedStar paramedic was convicted of stealing and tampering with fentanyl and morphine vials, a case that led to changes in narcotics-handling procedures in the region. Authorities are not alleging any connection between those earlier incidents and the current theft investigation.
What comes next
Kelley now faces multiple felony counts that carry significant penalties if she is convicted, and the case will move forward in Randolph County court. Prosecutors have not yet announced a trial date, and Kelley is presumed innocent unless and until she is proven guilty in court.
