PERRY COUNTY (WSIL) -- The former treasurer of the Perry County Agricultural Society, Billy E. Harris, pled guilty to defrauding the PCAS out of more than $100,000.
The PCAS operates all of the festivals at the Perry County Fairgrounds in Pinckneyville, including the Perry County Fair. Harris, 48, served as the treasurer of the PCAS from 2011 through October 2018.
During a Thursday hearing, Harris admitted that from June 2021 to October 2018, he defrauded the PCAS out of more than $100,000. Specifically, Harris acknowledged he paid his personal expenses and purchased items for his personal use, with PCAS money.
Many of those items were purchased through Amazon. Some of the items that Harris admitted purchasing with PCAS funds include a WiFi router, Apple AirPods, a Himalyan Salt Lamp Air Purifier, Star Wars Darth Vader and Yoda personalized pet tags, a pair of Star Wars men’s sleep pants, a floating pool fountain, a CPAP tube cleaning brush, and men’s grooming products, including beard lube.
Harris also admitted writing checks on the PCAS account payable to himself and his spouse, and forging a Board member’s signature on those checks.
Harris will be sentenced on May 5, 2022. His mail fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $250,000. In addition, Harris can be ordered to pay full restitution to the PCAS.
