The former director of the East St. Louis public library has been sentenced for embezzling
thousands of dollars from the library for years. Marlon P. Bush, 48, of East St. Louis, Illinois,
was ordered to serve 12 months in prison, followed by six months of home detention and two years of
supervised release. From 2014 through 2016, while serving as the library’s director, Bush took
excess salary for himself, stole from the salary of another library employee, and charged numerous
personal purchases to the library’s credit cards. Bush pleaded guilty earlier this year to a
federal indictment charging him with wire fraud and embezzlement from the library, a unit of city
government that receives federal funds.
Steven D. Weinhoeft, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, said: “Investigating and
prosecuting public corruption remains among the highest priorities for the Department of Justice.
Citizens need to be able to trust the people who work in all levels of government. Serious harm is
done when public employees abuse that trust and put their own interests above the people they
serve. For that reason, we will continue to vigorously prosecute all forms of public corruption in
this district."
As part of his sentence, Bush was ordered to pay $48,102.86 in restitution to the library.
The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force which
consists of agents with the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Illinois State Police. The
prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith. Citizens are encouraged to
report suspicions of public corruption to the Southern Illinois Public Corruption
Task Force Tip Line at (618) 589-7373.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
