Guilty plea in Illinois Capitol renovation case

The former president of a Peoria-area construction firm involved with restoration of the Illinois Capitol building pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges Friday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.

Stephen Roeschley, 65, former president of the Morton-based Core Construction Services of Illinois, entered the plea in Sangamon County Circuit Court. Roeschley was sentenced to 30 months of probation and ordered to pay $800,000 in restitution.

The company used a minority-owned business to obtain a contract as part of the $50 million Illinois Capitol restoration project, Madigan’s office said. Roeschley told the Illinois Capital Development Board that BJB Enterprises would meet the state’s legal requirements for work done by a woman or minority-owned business.

But the attorney general’s Public Integrity Bureau investigated and found BJB Enterprises didn’t do any work or provide any materials for the project.

“Our investigation revealed that the company used a minority-owned business as a front to obtain a state construction contract,” Madigan said in a statement. “The pervasive evasion of the state law requiring opportunities for minority- or women-owned businesses will not be tolerated.”