Bloomington school board member to get treatment in veterans court for repeat DUI

Posted on February 1, 2023

*District 87 School Board member Fitzgerald Samedy. (McLean County Jail)*

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington School District 87 school board member is being given a chance to avoid jail through a veterans program after a repeat drunken driving conviction.

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Fitzgerald Samedy, 36, to 2 1/2-years on probation with McLean County’s Veterans Treatment Court. Samedy pleaded guilty in December to aggravated DUI and driving with a revoked license.

Prosecutors recommended a regular probation term that would have included some jail time.

In May of last year, Bloomington Police said they responded to a report of a disturbance on South Evergreen Lane, Samedy reportedly got out of his car, and officers said they smelled alcohol and noticed he had glassy eyes, and his speech was slurred.

Authorities said Samedy also refused to take a breathalyzer test even though police obtained a search warrant requiring him do it.

Veterans Treatment Court is for veterans who’ve been convicted of non-violent crimes who have been diagnosed with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse, according to McLean County’s government website.

“The goal of Veterans Treatment Court is to decrease the number of recurrent arrests that result from mental health and substance abuse issues by sending offenders to treatment for their mental health and substance abuse issues rather than jail,” the website said.

Participants must make regular court appearances, undergo frequent and random drug testing, and attend counseling.

Court records said Samedy has two prior Cook County DUI convictions in 2009 and 2016, and a pair of McLean County convictions for driving with a revoked license in 2019 and 2021.

Samedy was elected to the school board in 2021.

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