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On the wire fraud counts, related to both an alleged kickback
scheme in which state taxpayer dollars were funneled to
nonprofits employing the lawmaker’s daughter, and for the misuse
of campaign funds, Ammons argued prosecutors failed to include
all the facts necessary to support the charges.
“The wire fraud counts fail to specify the Illinois conflict of
interest law at issue and fail to allege that Rep. Ammons
engaged in deception or had the victims’ money or property as an
object of the scheme to defraud,” according to the filing.
It continued by contending that the federal government
misrepresented Illinois law defining conflicts of interest as it
relates to taxpayer dollars in the Grant Accountability and
Transparency Act.
Illinois' grant rules, the Grant Transparency and Accountability
Act, require conflict of interest disclosures only from people
who oversee an organization or are a grant recipient. They said
Ammons was acting as a state legislator, not in either of those
roles.
As for the laws governing a state lawmaker’s behavior, statute
only prevents the spouse or minor child from benefitting from
General Assembly-appropriated funds.
Because Ammons' daughter, Titianna Ammons, was an adult, the
motion maintains that no conflict existed under state law. It
also notes prosecutors don’t allege she was paid for any work
she didn’t perform for the nonprofits.
In a second argument, Ammons' attorneys contend federal
prosecutors are improperly trying to enforce state ethics rules,
which they say are matters for Illinois to regulate based on
years of legal precedent.
As for the false statement charge, which stems from the
representative telling federal investigators that she was
unaware of any conflict of interest, her lawyers said that she
couldn’t have made a false statement because a conflict of
interest doesn’t exist under state law.
The filing asks that the final count, one charge of witness
tampering shared by both Carol Ammons and her husband Aaron
Ammons – the Champaign County Clerk – to be thrown out because
the indictment alleges that “Ammons was merely present when
Aaron Ammons attempted to tamper with the witness.”
The motion asks U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless to dismiss
the indictment or hold a hearing on the request.
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