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Former Country Club Hills Police Chief Gets 5 Years In Prison

CHICAGO (STMW) -- Former Country Clubs Hills Police Chief Regina Evans was sentenced late Thursday to five years in prison for stealing more than $900,000 in state grant money.

U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough told Evans that she "broke the law in magnificent fashion with a magnificient fraud."

After a day of testimony from her daughter, minister and family friends, Evans delivered a 10-minute tearful apology for her crime.

"I made a mistake. I was wrong. But is that enough to take my life away and keep me away from my child and family?" she asked.

Her 60 months in prison is to be followed by three years of supervised release, with the first year to be served in home detention. The remaining two years of supervised release require her to do 20 hours per week of unpaid community service.

Plus, Evans was ordered to make immediate restitution to the state for more than $917,000 in funds that prosecutors says was spent improperly from a $1.25 million Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity work-training grant tied to her and her husband's renovation of the Regal Theater on the South Side.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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