URBANA — Six-term Democratic state Rep. Carol Ammons and her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, each pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges handed up earlier this month by a grand jury.
Rep. Ammons is accused of wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice, while her husband is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and a separate count of obstruction. The charges stem from an alleged scheme by Rep. Ammons to defraud the state, taxpayers and campaign donors for personal enrichment, according to the indictment unveiled last week.
“I respectfully ask for patience as this process moves forward. My legislative record is clear, and it speaks for itself,” the lawmaker said, speaking outside the Urbana federal courthouse after her initial appearance before a judge. “I maintain that these allegations are not true, and I look forward to responding to them through the legal process where the facts can be fully examined.”
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has already temporarily stripped Ammons of her legislative committee assignments and barred her from meetings of the House Democratic Caucus. The state House also launched a special committee last week to investigate her, initiated by House Republicans.
Rep. Ammons’ Tallahassee-based attorney, Mutaqee Akbar, on Thursday said he hoped the special investigative process could be postponed “so we can focus our attention on our due process rights in the courthouse.”
Each of the eight counts of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as do the conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges, U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller said. An additional false statement charge against Rep. Ammons carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, Miller said. Prosecutors didn’t seek to detain either defendant before the trial.
Steve Beckett, Aaron Ammons’ attorney, said after the court proceedings that it was “a sad day,” but also the beginning of a process toward justice, “and justice means not guilty.”
More than a dozen supporters stood behind the Ammonses following their court appearance, some after spending a half hour or more outside as the temperature approached 90 degrees. The courtroom for the brief initial appearance was full with more than 40 people, some of whom Rep. Ammons embraced as she reentered wearing sunglasses during her husband’s time before the judge. Even more filed into an overflow viewing room.
Several supporters said they were personal friends of the Ammonses or had worked with the lawmaker, and some speculated specifically that the charges were political retaliation against a family that had supported the local community, and the Black community in particular.
“This is what they do to us,” said Janice Walker, a 66-year-old peer mentor who said she had known the couple since they were first together. The Ammonses, she said, had “done nothing but help our people.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has at times prosecuted people seen as the president’s political foes, prompting concerns about fairness and justice from Democrats and other observers. According to the indictment, Rep. Ammons had at least one interaction with a federal agent prior to the beginning of the second Trump administration. The false statement charge stems from an alleged interaction with an FBI agent around May 2024, but the indictment does not provide the full context of that interaction.
Walker questioned the scrutiny that led to the Ammons’ indictment: “How come they don’t do that with a president?”
Asked whether the defendants saw the prosecution as political, Rep. Ammons’ attorney left the door open but noted the case is still in its early stages.
“We can’t ignore that that’s probably present, just based off of the work that Rep. Ammons has done for the last 12 years, but we don’t know the specifics enough to detail that part of it,” Akbar said. “We maintain her innocence, whether they’re coming after her for political reasons or any other reasons. The fight is still going to be the same in the courthouse.”
Rep. Ammons is accused of devising a scheme dating back to 2017 that included directing state funds to organizations that then paid her daughter. The state representative also allegedly received cash kickbacks stemming from payments made through organizations that received state grants, as well as through her campaign fund, according to the 12-page indictment.
In all, the representative and her daughter “received financial benefits in excess of $100,000,” the indictment alleges.
Rep. Ammons then lied to the FBI agent about the matter and conspired with her husband to conceal the alleged misuse of campaign and public funds, according to the indictment.
Kamm Howard, a Chicago-based reparations advocate, speaking alongside the couple and their attorneys, announced a legal defense fund called “Justice Not Judgment,” to support them.
Howard suggested Rep. Ammons was targeted in connection with the Department of Justice’s recent efforts to intervene in reparations programs, including in Evanston.
“Her indictment must therefore be examined within the broader environment in which reparations programs, the public officials who advance them and the communities that support them are increasingly being confronted with federal hostility,” Howard said.
Asked about her work specifically on reparations, Ammons noted she previously sponsored a resolution on African American ethnic identity, which is tied to reparations. The indictment does not appear to mention anything directly related to reparations.
Federal Judge Eric Long proposed a trial starting Sept. 22, though he indicated the date might be flexible, with pretrial video conferences Aug. 24.
