A former southern Illinois mayor has been sentenced to two years of probation for lying to federal investigators about referral commissions he received on city contracts.
Former Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson also was sentenced Monday to 40 hours of community service and fined $500 after pleading guilty in March. He resigned as mayor of the Monroe County town after being indicted in February.
Hutchinson had been charged with one felony count of making a false statement to the federal Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force.
The indictment described Hutchinson as a licensed insurance agent who owned a closely held Illinois corporation called BMC Associates, Inc. It said the Columbia city government provides health-insurance coverage for employees and contracts for property/casualty loss insurance.
Hutchinson and his company received referral commissions from the insurance contracts that the city placed with two other companies, the indictment said. The city council and city manager were unaware of the commissions.
The Associated Press contributed to this article