Mayor pleads not guilty to misconduct charges

Friday, April 15, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

PEKIN, Ill. -- Pekin Mayor Lyn Howard pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he used a city credit card to obtain more than $1,400 in cash advances last year at a riverboat casino.

Howard's attorney, Gerald Hall, said after the hearing that the mayor repaid the money and contends he did nothing illegal.

"He's admitted to using the credit card. The issue will come down to the question of the law," Hall told the (Pekin) Daily Times.

Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz said outside court that the law is unambiguous. "There is no question that public money cannot be used for personal benefit," he said.

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