EDWARDSVILLE – Local authorities have charged three Riverbend residents with home repair fraud, wire fraud, and deceptive practices in separate felony cases.
Michael L. Wilson Jr., 42, of Collinsville, was charged on Dec. 10 2025 with one count each of theft (a Class 3 felony) and aggravated home repair fraud in an amount exceeding $500 against a victim 60 years of age or older (a Class 2 felony).
Wilson allegedly knowingly entering into a $12,150 agreement with an elderly Maryville resident to perform home repairs which he reportedly knew would not be performed and had no intention of performing on April 13, 2025. He is also accused of knowingly stealing $9,500 by deception from the same victim, just over 78% of the agreed upon total.
Wilson was granted pretrial release from custody in the case presented by the Maryville Police Department.
A Bethalto man, 59-year-old Kenneth P. Schanz, was charged in a separate case filed on Dec. 11, 2025 with two Class 2 felony counts of theft and a Class 3 felony count of wire fraud.
Schanz allegedly devised and executed a wire fraud scheme to unlawfully transfer over $10,000 in funds from the bank accounts of the Second Wind Lung Transplant Association to himself on June 28, 2023.
The Wood River Police Department presented the case against Schanz, who was ordered released from custody pending trial.
In another unrelated case, Mark D. Crabtree, 64, of Granite City, was charged on Dec. 11, 2025 with a Class 4 felony count of deceptive practices.
Crabtree is accused of knowingly delivering a bad check for $2,500 to the Woodlawn Cemetery in Edwardsville, signed with his name, knowing the check would not be paid by the depository in an attempt to defraud the cemetery and illegally obtain the funds on July 7, 2025.
Crabtree was also granted pretrial release from custody in this case, which was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
