Mildred L. Francis

WARSAW — The ex-wife of Warsaw’s former street superintendent was sentenced in Kosciusko Circuit Court Monday, Oct. 15, on charges related to a money laundering scheme that ended up bilking the city of Warsaw out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Mildred L. Francis, 60, 317 W. Smith St., Warsaw, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, a class D felony. Her class D felony sentence was entered as a class A misdemeanor.  

Francis was arrested in May 2014, on charges of money laundering stemming from a case involving her then-husband, Lacy Francis, Jr., who served as Warsaw’s street superintendent for 23 years. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in July 2017, with two of those years to be served behind bars.

Lacy Francis, Jr. participated in a kickback scheme involving a private contractor, Pro Form Pipe Lining Co., and its owner, Marc Campbell. Francis Jr. helped the company win bids on 11 city projects involving installation of new lining for sewer pipes. After obtaining the contracts, the company intentionally overcharged the city of Warsaw for the work, sometimes by claiming to have done more work than what was actually performed – and shared the excess with Francis, Jr.

Mildred was charged due to her role as the chief financial officer of the operation. In court today, she was sentenced to one year in the Kosciusko County Jail, with the sentence suspended and ordered to be served on formal probation. As part of the plea agreement, other charges were dismissed and Mildred was ordered to make restitution, although no details were discussed regarding the amount. She was given one day of jail time credit.