Gordon’s fines for shoplifting just paid Tuesday

Jehan Gordon recently announced that she was convicted of shoplifting in 2000. What she didn’t mention was that she just paid the fines associated with that crime this past week.

According to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Champaign County, Ms. Gordon’s theft charge from June 29, 2000, Case #00CM00657, was paid this past Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008, via credit card. The fines totaled almost $400. All those court costs have been outstanding for over seven years, including time she was running a campaign for the 92nd district seat.

Here’s how it appears on the Circuit Clerk’s website:

RECEIPT # DESCRIPTION AMOUNT DATE PAID
170628 CLERK 25.00 2/27/01
474682 AUTOMATION FEE 5.00 1/22/08
474682 DOCUMENT STORAGE FEE 5.00 1/22/08
474682 COURT FINANCE FEE 25.00 1/22/08
474682 STS ATTY 10.00 1/22/08
474682 ARRESTEE’S MEDICAL 10.00 1/22/08
474682 LOCAL ANTI-CRIME FEE 5.00 1/22/08
474682 FINES 100.00 1/22/08
474682 VIOLENT CRIME VICTIM 12.00 1/22/08
474682 SUR CHARGE-OLD 8/40 12.00 1/22/08
474682 LEADS MAINT FUND 3.00 1/22/08
474682 COURT SECURITY FEE 15.00 1/22/08
474682 CR CARD CONVEN FEE 15.00 1/22/08
474682 COURT SERVICES FUND 30.00 1/22/08
474682 ATTY FEES P D 100.00 1/22/08

Ms. Gordon was also cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle in Champaign County (Case #04TR11478) on May 12, 2004. She didn’t appear at her court date on June 24, 2004, and was fined $200. Those fines were paid just two months ago, on November 26, 2007. That was more than three years after the incident and after she entered the race.

While I was willing to write off her youthful indiscretion of seven years ago, the fact that she left that judgment and at least one other unpaid all this time is very troubling. Essentially, she didn’t finish paying her debt to society, so to speak, until just this week. Unless the circuit court is wrong in its dating of when the fines were paid, this is pretty damning to her candidacy. She should immediately withdraw from the race.

Incidentally, she also shows up in the McLean County Circuit Court system for a traffic violation (Case #2007TR025410) from Sep. 20, 2007, that they describe as simply “UNLICENSED” (all caps in original). Not sure what that means — driving without a license, perhaps? Her last court appearance was Dec. 17, 2007, and the case is now listed as “closed.”