The city of Dixon, Ill., will receive more than $9 million in restitution in the embezzlement case involving a former high-profile Quarter Horse breeder employed by the city for more than 20 years.

In April 2012, a federal grand jury indicted Rita Crundwell for allegedly misappropriating $53 million from Dixon, where she had served as comptroller since the 1980s. Federal law enforcement agents later arrested Crundwell and charged her with one count of wire fraud.

A federal court judge later placed more than 400 of Crundwell’s horses in the custody of the U. S. Marshals Service. The horses, along with semen, horse trailers, other equipment, a luxury motor home, real estate, and furnishings, were later sold at auction.

Crundwell initially pleaded not guilty to the wire fraud charge. However in November of 2012 she appeared in U.S. District Court in Rockford, Ill., and changed her plea to guilty under a plea agreement. Under the agreement, Crundwell admitted to stealing more than $53 million from Dixon, Ill., and using it to finance her Quarter Horse breeding business, horse show appearances, and other equestrian activities. Under the deal, she also admitted that she engaged in illegal money laundering in connection with the embezzlement, and agreed that she owes restitution to Dixon totaling $53,740,394, minus any credit for funds repaid prior to sentencing. Crundwell was later sentenced to serve 19 years and 7 months in federal prison