By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – Comments from the federal judge who sentenced former McLean County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen on Tuesday suggest Sorensen received a relatively lenient prison sentence due in part to his public service.

An Illinois State University Politics and Government professor said that sends the wrong message.

Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced Sorensen to a year in prison, rejecting probation but also imposing a sentence below the U.S. Attorney’s recommendation.

Guzman described Sorensen’s public service as the most impressive he had ever seen.

Professor Tom McClure, a trial lawyer who teachers constitutional law and litigation at ISU, said elected leaders should be held to the same standard as anyone else convicted of a crime.

“I know that the arguments being made that there’s a tremendous amount of public service that someone may have given, but it sends an awful message to everyone if our public officials are not punished appropriately and fairly when they should be setting the standards for the rest of us,” McClure said.

Sorensen’s crime was not related to his time on the county board, but rather as a tech consultant.

He pleaded guilty to wire fraud for billing Bloomington’s State Farm Insurance hundreds of thousands of dollars for work that was never done.

Sorensen and a former business partner must also pay almost $491,000 restitution. Sorensen is required to serve 85 percent of his sentence, which begins the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].