It's often commonplace for criminals to be thrown into jail for theft. What’s not so typical is being incarcerated for stealing from your former correctional facility.
Shaun Smith used his $5 refund check to steal $4,500 from a commissary account set-up for inmates at the DuPage County Jail, according to authorities. Commissary accounts are used by inmates to buy hygiene items, snacks, and other smaller products.
Smith, 21, allegedly stole from the account just days after his release from a state prison last December. He'd received the menial $5 check upon transfer from DuPage County Jail to Danville Correctional Center to finish a March 2010 sentence for theft.
Smith used the account numbers on his check to illegally pull $4,500 from the jail commissary account, using the money to pay for pre-paid credit cards and cell phones, according to prosecutor Diane Michalak.
Now charged with felony theft and financial institution fraud, he faces 10 years in prison upon conviction.
Smith is now jailed in Iroquois County on pending forgery charges but is expected to undergo another transfer back to DuPage to face his new charges.
