Former Waukegan alderman Roudell Kirkwood has pleaded guilty to forgery and official misconduct, admitting that he concealed his seat on the Waukegan City Council on liquor and video gaming licence applications for his own restaurant business. Lake County Circuit Court Judge Mark Levitt accepted the plea deal on Wednesday, October 28.
Source: Chronicle Media
Under the agreement, Kirkwood was sentenced to two years of conditional discharge and ordered to pay $1,169 in fines and assessments. The charges he pleaded guilty to — three counts of forgery and one count of official misconduct — are Class 3 felonies in Illinois, each punishable by up to five years in prison.
What he admitted
The conduct all dates to 2019. The three forgery counts cover three separate applications on which Kirkwood did not disclose that he was a public official: a June 2019 liquor licence application to the City of Waukegan, a July 2019 video gaming location disclosure application to the Illinois Gaming Board, and an October 2019 retailer application to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. The official misconduct count stems from the same failure to disclose his elected position on the video gaming location disclosure application while he was serving as an alderman.
Source: WFB News
Kirkwood represented Waukegan's Fourth Ward from May 2019 to May 2023. At the same time, he was president of Mac Dynasty Inc., which operated a Lake County restaurant with an operating bar and video gaming terminals — the business whose licences were at issue in the case.
A case that began with a 2022 indictment
A Lake County grand jury indicted Kirkwood on July 1, 2022, after an investigation by the Illinois State Police Statewide Gaming Command and the Illinois Gaming Board, which found that in 2019 and 2020 he falsified liquor and video gaming licence applications by hiding that he sat on the City Council. Because the case involved a Lake County local official, Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser was appointed special prosecutor, and Assistant State's Attorneys Robert Dore and John Frank handled the prosecution in the Lake County court.
Conditional discharge is a revocable release under conditions set by the court, without probation supervision. If Kirkwood violates the conditions during the 24 months, the court can revoke the discharge and revisit the sentence. It is not a prison term and it is not an acquittal — the guilty plea and the felony convictions stand.
"No one is above the law"
Special prosecutor Jamie Mosser said: "Public officials are entrusted with serving their communities honestly and with integrity. By falsifying applications and concealing his status as an elected official, Mr. Kirkwood violated the public's trust and undermined the standards expected of those who hold public office." She added: "Public officials must be held to the highest standards of honesty and accountability, and no one is above the law." Mosser thanked Dore and Frank, as well as the Illinois State Police Statewide Gaming Command, the Illinois Gaming Board and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, for their investigation.
Why the disclosure rules exist
Liquor and gaming licensing in Illinois runs through both city halls and state regulators, and the application forms require public officials to disclose their office precisely because a council member sits close to the local decisions that affect bars and gaming venues. Video gaming terminals are a major revenue line for Illinois restaurants and bars, and the Gaming Board's disclosure regime is meant to keep elected officials from quietly holding a financial stake on both sides of the licensing counter. Kirkwood's plea closes the criminal case; the reports do not say what happens to the licences held by his business, and no further court date was announced.
Waukegan is a city on Lake Michigan in Lake County, north of Chicago. Kirkwood left the council in May 2023, while the case was still pending. With the plea accepted and the sentence imposed on Wednesday, the four-year-old case is over unless the conditional discharge is revoked during its 24-month term.