Feb. 09--A former real estate agent who was convicted of taking almost $150,000 from his business accounts was ordered Tuesday repay the money and serve 120 days in the DuPage County jail.
Harry G. Simons, 49, of Willowbrook, had been found guilty in November of taking earnest money that homebuyers and sellers had deposited with his Burr Ridge realty firm.
Simons told Judge Robert Miller that he used the money to prop up his ailing business.
"I regret everything I did wrong, and I want to be a better person," Simons told the judge.
Miller noted that it did not appear that Simons gained any personal benefit from the thefts, which took place over a two-year period between 2012 and 2014. But Simons, the judge said, made a stupid bet that he could recoup his business losses if his agency's finances rebounded.
"He's been described as not stupid, but really he was when it came to business and real estate," the judge said.
Assistant State's Attorney Diane Michalak asked the judge to give Simons six years in prison for what she described a series of felony thefts. Records indicate that Simons took money from the escrow account 68 times, the prosecutor said.
"He was a bad businessman, but that didn't give him a license to steal," Michalak argued.
Defense attorney John Paul Carroll said Simons lacked the strength to admit his business had failed and simply shut it down.
"I don't think sending this man, a broken man, to prison is going to help society," Carroll argued.
The judge ordered Simons to get a job and begin paying $300 per month in restitution at the completion of his jail sentence. Miller also placed Simons on 48 months of probation.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
