An Ottawa woman avoided prison Thursday despite bilking the federal government of more than $20,000 in COVID-19 relief funds; but Amanda Rogers will spend a year in county custody.

Rogers, 34, of Ottawa appeared Thursday for sentencing in La Salle County Circuit Court after entering a blind plea to theft, a Class 1 felony carrying a possible prison sentence of four to 15 years.

When offered a chance to speak, Rogers tearfully told Circuit Judge Michelle A. Vescogni she “was in a very bad place” when she was alerted to the possibility of procuring federal aid, wrongly or not.

“I saw an opportunity to get a little extra money to help us out and I took it,” Rogers admitted.

Even though Rogers was on felony probation at the time she filed the fraudulent documents – she’d been granted second-chance probation for felony disorderly conduct in 2019 – Vescogni concluded Rogers’ otherwise-limited record warranted another shot at avoiding prison.

Rogers was immediately taken into custody to begin serving her year in La Salle County Jail.

Rogers was the first of six defendants charged in the fraud to plead guilty. At her plea hearing, prosecutors disclosed that Rogers applied for a government loan after submitting paperwork showing she owned an Ottawa business with gross profits over $100,000.

Though Rogers was later found to own and operate no such business, the fraudulent claims resulted in her obtaining a loan for $20,832.

At sentencing, prosecutor Laura Hall asked for five years in prison. Hall argued that Rogers had a largely “minimal” record but one that didn’t show great likelihood that she’d follow the terms of conditions and probation.

More damning, though, was Rogers had placed on second-chance probation in May 2019 and had two months left to serve when, on March 13, 2021, she filed her bogus paperwork for relief.

“To grant this woman any form of probation would be to deprecate the seriousness of the offense,” Hall said.

But Public Defender Ryan Hamer prevailed upon the judge to grant probation. Hamer argued that Rogers admitted her guilt and that the crime was driven by “unusual circumstances,” making her unlikely to re-offend.

“She got caught up and made a bad decision,” Hamer said, “one that will haunt her for the rest of her life.”

Rogers was luckier than Ebony Green of University Park, who last week was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to finagling a comparable sum to what Rogers drew. Like Rogers, Green was on probation at the time she filed the paperwork.

Four more La Salle County defendants are awaiting trial. La Salle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro has said previously that the various charges were not the result of a conspiracy per se, but the suspects “probably acted in concert” and some of the documents bore similarities, such as the same fictitious companies.