DeWitt County man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar fraud scheme related to East Peoria business

PEORIA (25News Now) – A Farmer City man pleaded guilty to six felony charges related to a scheme to defaulted boat owners and banks that financed his business.

Jeffrey D. Gibbs, 58, and co-defendant Kara M. Wilkey, 49, of Maroa, were both indicted in December 2020, with multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a Department of Justice release.

Wilkey pleaded guilty to six of the charges in August 2021.

Gibbs pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faces total statutory penalties of up to 102 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $1,250,000, or twice the loss to the victims, and up to four years’ supervised release upon completion of imprisonment.

The duo were employees of the now defunct boat and watercraft dealership Mid Illinois Boats, Inc., which did business at Clinton Marine II in East Peoria.

The DOJ says the pair used the dealership to defraud customers and lending institutions out of around $4.7 million.

In pleading guilty, the DOJ says Gibbs and Wilkey admitted that, from January 2014 to July 2019, they used their positions with Clinton Marine II, which included management of day-to-day operations, to carry out a fraud involving floorplan financing. The fraud included obtaining loans on fictitious boats and on false transactions; taking out loans using forged signatures; selling boats on behalf of customers, but not paying off the customer’s loan or remitting payment to the seller; and, collecting payment for taxes, titles, and fees, but failing to pay those expenses.

Wilkey pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. She faces total statutory penalties of up to 122 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $3,000,000, or twice the loss to the victims, and up to five years’ supervised release upon completion of imprisonment.

Both Gibbs and Wilkey are set to be sentenced at 9 a.m. September 19 in Peoria.

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