On Thursday, July 22, former Red Bud mayor Tim Lowry was indicted by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
According to the indictment documents, the charge against Lowry is for providing a false statement to the Federal Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force. This charge is connected to the charge against Kevin Hutchinson, the former mayor of Columbia.
Lowry’s indictment noted that he was the elected mayor of Red Bud and also a licensed insurance agent who owned Ackermann Agency. Hutchinson, while mayor of Columbia had received referral commissions from the insurance contracts that the city placed with ICRMT; he had also recommended to the Columbia City Council that the city’s casualty loss and worker compensation insurance be placed through Lowry and Ackermann Agency.
“As an elected municipal official and a public officer Tim Lowry was aware that elected public officials are prohibited, under the Illinois Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act from being financially interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract, work or business of the municipality.”
For more on this story, please see this week’s print edition.