PHOTOS: Crundwell jewelry up for auction this Saturday
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DIXON, Ill. (Associated Press) -
A gold bar, a Rolex watch and even a glitzy SpongeBob SquarePants pendant are among the luxury items once belonging to disgraced Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell that will go up for auction Saturday, according to federal authorities.
Crundwell, 60, was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison last Thursday after she admitted to stealing $53.7 million from the northern Illinois city.
The pieces of jewelry will be part of a 351-lot auction of items forfeited to the government from criminal cases across the country, according to a press release from the U.S. Marshalls Service, which will conduct the auction.
Among Crundwell's former belongings for sale are a bar of gold bullion, which fetches a starting price of $1.436 million, and a $25,000 Rolex watch, the release said.
Other items include gold bracelet valued at $4,200, and a gold necklace and "Rita" name pendant worth $1,800.
An encrusted pendant of cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is expected to fetch $1,200, while a platinum diamond ring Crundwell owned is valued at $980.
Federal authorities have already auctioned millions of dollars worth of Crundwell's horses, properties, a luxury motor home and other vehicles and belongings to compensate victims of Crundwell's scheme.
The longtime city official confessed to funneling public funds into a secret bank account from 1990 until her arrest last April.
Saturday's auction will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, and online at www.txauction.com. A preview of the items is scheduled for Friday.
Crundwell still faces 60 state felony charges for theft in Lee County.
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