Highland Park State Senator Bert Johnson has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury on charges of conspiracy and theft of tax payer dollars.
Officials say Johnson borrowed 10 thousand dollars from an unnamed co-conspirator and later placed that person on the public payroll in his office as a member of his staff. That person, officials say, did no work. Instead the ghost employee was hired and paid to specifically pay off Johnson’s personal loan with tax payer dollars. In total the ghost employee was paid over 23 thousand dollars in tax payer money.
The conspiracy charge is a five year felony, the theft charge is a ten year felony.