Former Coroner Rudd Indicted in Perjury Case

LAKE FOREST — Former Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas A. Rudd of Lake Forest was indicted on five counts of perjury. He is accused of  falsely swearing he witnessed people sign his re-election nominating petitions for the 2016 Democratic primary.

Rudd was indicted by the Lake County Grand Jury February 15 in Waukegan from allegations arising out of circumstances surrounding his aborted effort to become the Democratic Party nominee for in the 2016 election, according to the indictment.

Talking to reporters about the perjury indictment against Dr. Thomas A. Rudd of Lake Forest are (from left) Lake County Undersheriff Raymond Rose, special prosecutor Brian Towne and Christopher Covelli, the public information officer for criminal investigations in the Lake County Sheriff’s department.

The charges arise from objections to Rudd’s nominating petitions filed in November 2015, according to the indictment, which alleges Rudd swore under oath on five of his petitions he witnessed the signatories write their name.

Rudd admitted in December 2015  he did not witness the actual signatures and withdrew from the Democratic primary, he said in a Jan. 12, 2016 DailyNorthShore.com story. At the time he said was going to run as an independent.

When Rudd’s petitions to appear on the ballot as an independent were successfully challenged, he mounted a write-in campaign, according to an October 6 DNS article. He lost.

Though the indictment was handed up by the grand jury Feb. 15, Christopher Covelli, the public information officer for criminal investigations in the Lake County Sheriff’s department, said the investigation is ongoing and there could be more charges against others.

All five counts are Class 3 felonies, which carry a term of two to five years in prison, according to Covelli. He made his statement at a news conference Feb. 15 at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Waukegan called to announce the charges.

Brian Towne, a special prosecutor in the case working for the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, said his office asked for the five felony charges because of the importance of securing the integrity of the electoral process.

“We live in an environment where elections are strongly contested and strict scrutiny is needed to secure the electoral process,” said Towne during the news conference. “That’s why I’m here as a special prosecutor. This was a re-election campaign and he’s been through this process before.”

Covelli said potential conflicts of interest caused the sheriff’s department to bring the appellate prosecutor’s office into the case. He declined to elaborate on the statement.

During the course of the investigation, Towne said he came to believe some of the people signing the petitions were dead for more than 10 years and others did not actually sign them.

“We reviewed thousands and thousands of documents,” said Towne. “We talked to people whose signatures appeared on the petitions and they said it was not their signature on the page.”

Lake County Undersheriff Raymond Rose said the ongoing investigation could include charges against current and former employees of the coroner’s office. He declined to elaborate.

Rudd is scheduled to surrender to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office when he appears in bond court Feb. 16 at Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan. He did not return calls to DNS for a comment.

Dr. Thomas Rudd of Lake Forest tells the Lake County Democratic Central Committee why he is worthy of an endorsement in October.