Ex-Calumet Township Trustee Kim Robinson got one year of probation Wednesday for using $11,200 in public funds to pay for her son’s Gary apartment.

Robinson, 57, pleaded guilty in December in the U.S. District Court in Hammond to one count of wire fraud.

As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed not to file any related charges, while Robinson resigned from her position.

She will have to repay the $11,200 and an additional $8,700 fine.

With trust in government already low, people in the community are asking how she “let them down in such an egregious way,” U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund said during the hearing.

Defense lawyer Arlington Foley said Robinson “lost her livelihood” and had cooperated with federal investigators.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Wolff, with co-counsel Philip Benson, noted Robinson quit promptly.

“It’s rare for an elected official to do that right away,” Wolff said.

Robinson said in court she wanted to apologize “to my family and the community I served.”

The judge said she understood if others thought the sentence was too lenient. Her hope was that Robinson worked to restore the faith others once put in her, Lund said.

Gary Council President Tai Adkins replaced Robinson as Calumet Township Trustee in a January caucus.

Former Calumet Township Trustee chief of staff Sherita Smith on Jan. 5, 2023, responded to a Freedom of Information Act request from Gary Councilman Darren Washington, D-At Large, asking for client names of two apartments, one owned by Ruthellyn Hatcher and another owned by Karen Freeman-Wilson.

Robinson’s son Christopher Robinson lived in the apartment owned by Hatcher, but Keon Robinson was listed as the resident. Keon Robinson died on Feb. 6, 2022, according to his obituary, and his connection to Kim Robinson is unknown.

Robinson paid $800 to Hatcher each month in rent, according to purchase orders sent from Washington. In total, Robinson allegedly used township funds to pay rent for about 14 months.

In a Dec. 22 statement to the Post-Tribune, Robinson expressed her gratitude for constituents and “the trust and support” extended to her while in office.

“As I step away from this role, I remain hopeful for our township’s future,” Robinson said in the statement. “I am leaving the Township’s operating fund in the black with case reserves of over $2 million in a rainy-day fund. Additionally, I have every confidence in the leadership that will follow me, and I wholeheartedly support the process of selecting a new trustee who will continue our mission of progress and community service.”

Robinson is the third consecutive Calumet Township trustee to face federal charges.

She was elected in 2014, defeating incumbent Trustee Mary Elgin in the primary amid the shadow of an FBI and IRS probe of the office. Robinson had served as a former Gary City Probation officer, councilwoman for the city’s 5th District from 2008 to 2014, and in the Lake County treasurer’s office.

In December 2014, Elgin, her son, Steven Hunter, and former Calumet Township employees Ethel Shelton and Alex Wheeler were indicted. The four were accused of conspiracy to defraud; wire fire; conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud; honest service wire fraud; and conspiracy to commit extortion.

They were accused of using township employees and offices to run political campaigns and raise money for Elgin’s fundraisers.

Elgin was sentenced in 2018 to one year and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the trustee’s office and $6,311 to the IRS.

Dozier Allen, trustee for 32 years, in 2007 was indicted on charges that he and three employees used $120,000 of grant money meant for the township for themselves.

A jury found him guilty in April 2009, and Allen was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Post-Tribune archives contributed.