At least a dozen people bought $100 raffle tickets for the chance to win a Ford F250 pickup truck, a Ford Mustang, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or a horse trailer. Problem is, the woman who sold the tickets didn't intend to hold the raffle -- nor did she have the prizes to give away, said McHenry County Sheriff's Lt. Don Carlson.

The unlicensed raffle, scheduled for Dec. 9, never took place, and Jeannine Lawler, 42, was arrested at her home in Richmond. She was charged with one count of gambling and nine counts of theft -- all misdemeanors.

But Lawler, who owns Heart Beats Therapeutic Riding Center in Richmond -- which offers horseback riding to the disabled -- says the raffle was to benefit the nonprofit organization. The event was postponed because of foul weather and poor ticket sales -- a possibility ticket holders knew in advance, she said.

"I was going to use money from the tickets to buy the prizes. It's not like I raked in tens of thousands of dollars. If I was going to do something [illegal], would I advertise it with fliers for the raffle all over town? I even put an ad in the newspaper."

Lawler says she did not know she needed a permit and believes she is being unjustly vilified for what was an act of good intention. "I sold 12 tickets . . . it's a big misunderstanding," she said through tears.

"I sent letters out to ticket holders to say they would be getting their money back. I did not spend the money. This whole thing has been a nightmare."

People can avoid fraudulent raffles by making sure the seller is licensed, said Carlson.

Statewide, fraudulent raffles of this sort "happen on occasion, but are not prevalent," said Natalie Bauer, spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Update 5/8/08:  Two dogs allegedly devoured six of a Richmond woman's pregnant, prize-winning goats in January and now the dogs' owner is facing a lawsuit.

Ashley Veldhuizen filed suit against her neighbor, Jeannine Lawler, seeking about $26,000 in damages for the death of the goats and their unborn babies.

The goats' owner alleges two of Lawler's mixed-breed dogs entered her Keystone Road property and attacked the goats Jan. 14, killing six and injuring three.

"Considering the prize-winning nature of the goats and the value of the goats and their offspring, as well as the ability of those goats to conceive additional offspring in the future, the total costs of the replacement of all the above totals $24,100," according to the lawsuit filed.

The lawsuit also seeks about $2,000 for veterinary bills Veldhuizen accrued for the treatment of the injured animals.

Veldhuizen's attorney, Steven Greely, Jr. said the goats were prize-winning under the American Dairy Goat Association.  "She shows them like some people show horses," the attorney said. "There are prizes that drive up the prices of these goats."

The case is set to go before an arbitrator November 7.

Update 1/22/09:  A Woodstock woman was appointed a public defender in connection with charges earlier this month stemming from alleged animal cruelty that led to the death of a horse.

  (Photo courtesy of The Northwest Herald)  Jeannine Lawler-Benz, 43, of 612 Rose Farm Road, was charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, three counts of cruelty to animals, and three counts of owner duty to animals – or insufficient care – in connection with an investigation through the county's Animal Control Department.

McHenry County sheriff's officials said that the investigation went back to August 2008, when a citation was issued for malnourished horses on Lawler-Benz' property. She later was charged criminally for not complying with the citation.

One horse died, and allegations of underfeeding were listed for at least four other horses, Public Defender Mark Cook said.  Fifteen horses were removed from two farms, according to the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office.

"The horses are all safe now because they've been placed in various spots," Cook said.

The most serious charge against Lawler-Benz is a Class 4 felony for the one horse's death, punishable by up to three years in prison.

Lawler-Benz next appears in court Feb. 5. She remains in McHenry County Jail on $14,000 bond.

Separate charges relating to an alleged bogus charity raffle last spring also are pending, in which Lawler-Benz faces a single count of gambling and nine counts of theft. All are Class A misdemeanors.

Lawler-Benz has denied the charges. The case is next due in court March 6.

Update 1/23/09:  A Woodstock woman arrested on charges of animal cruelty has endangered the lives of at least 19 horses, officials said.

The McHenry County Sheriff's department arrested Lawler-Benz after investigating the charges brought to light by the county's animal control department, Detective Sgt. Michael Cisner said.

Lawler-Benz was charged with one felony count of aggravated cruelty to an animal, and 6 counts of misdemeanor charges related to the care of the horses. She is currently being held in McHenry County Jail on $14,000 bond.

According to the complaint, Lawler-Benz received the felony charge for failing to feed a horse named Hyline "Billy" Royal a sufficient amount of hay and grain to sustain his life, resulting in his death.

Cisner said there was evidence of malnutrition among 16 animals at a horse farm on Rose Farm Road and at another on Kishwaukee Valley Road, both in Woodstock.

The Hoofed Animal Humane Society in August had issued Benz a citation for mistreatment of the animals, Program Director Hillary Clark said. For a time, Clark said, Lawler-Benz seemed to comply with the society's request to improve the quality of care.

In December, Clark said, a Humane Society investigator found several horses in bad shape.  On Jan. 2, Lawler-Benz relinquished four of her horses to the society, Clark said.  One of the animals, a 20-year-old, did not make it through the first night, Clark said.

"His temperature didn't even register. It was horrendous," she said.

The three other horses, a 15-year-old mare, and 4-month old and a 1-year-old, have gained some weight in the past weeks but are still very thin, she said.   Blood tests revealed life-threatening malnutrition.

As soon as Benz was arrested, the horses were relocated to an undisclosed farm in Woodstock, Cisner said.  The farm is leased by the county animal control department, spokeswoman Deb Quackenbush said.

"It's just a heart-wrenching case," Clark said.

Update 2/5/09:  Henry County prosecutors dismissed a felony animal cruelty charge against a Woodstock-area woman accused of letting one of her horses starve to death, but will press forward with six misdemeanor charges alleging abuse of other horses.

State's Attorney Louis Bianchi said he dropped the charge after determining prosecutors could not prove Jeannine Lawler-Benz intended to provide the deceased horse with an inadequate amount of food to survive.  "We have some new information that confirms negligence on her part, but we could not prove she was intentionally negligent to kill the horse," Bianchi said.

Lawler-Benz still faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine if found guilty of the remaining charges.

Lawler-Benz' former husband, who owns one of the properties were she kept the horses, came to her defense.  "She would never, ever let an animal get hurt," Brett Benz said. "And I would never allow it to happen on my property. This whole thing was blown out of proportion."

Benz said that all but one of the horses seized from the properties has passed a physical conducted by McHenry County Animal Control. Bianchi declined to comment on that claim, citing the pending charges.

Lawler-Benz, who is free on bond, is scheduled to return to court Feb. 19 on the remaining charges.

Update 3/18/09:  Lawler-Benz agreed to surrender ownership 12 horses to county animal control officials. Lawler-Benz will also pay the county about $1,200 to care for three other horses she is still seeking possession of, under a court order.

Update 11/30/09:  Lawler-Benz was sentenced to two years probation after admitting guilt to violating an animal owner's duty.  Lawler-Benz also accepted a two-year ban on owning or quartering more than four horses at a time and was ordered to pay a $500 fine under a plea bargain to the misdemeanor charge filed in connection with the starvation of a 20-year-old quarter horse named Hyline "Billy" Royal.

As part of the deal, McHenry County prosecutors agreed to dismiss several other related misdemeanor charges against the 44-year-old Woodstock woman.

Lawler-Benz, also known as Jeannine Lawler, continues to face an unrelated felony theft charge alleging she sold six $100 tickets for a bogus charitable raffle.

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