Ambiguous language in plea deal delays case of Farmington woman
By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
LEWISTOWN – For the first 45 minutes or so, a Farmington woman’s sentencing hearing last week in Fulton County Circuit Court was progressing as expected.
But it’ll be at least eight more weeks before Kelli Miller finds out for certain her punishment after she pleaded guilty to propositioning a 13-year-old boy.
Judge William Rasmussen cited ambiguities in Miller’s proposed probation order in deciding to continue the sentencing hearing, which began March 12. It’s to resume at 1:30 p.m. May 14.
The sticking point appeared to be a doctor’s recommendation that Miller have no contact with minors, including possibly her children. Rasmussen deemed unclear the wording of the recommendation.
“If we’re going to go forward with the probation order, I want to make darn sure what it is,” said Rasmussen, who called the situation a possible recipe for disaster. “I don’t think it is written in the way a normal probation order is written.
“I don’t have the ability to strike this or add this or taking something away. When I’m dealing with a fully negotiated plea, I either take it or leave it. … I’m not in a position where I can agree with this. Right now I’m disagreeing, because I don’t have enough information.”
Last October, 40-year-old Miller agreed to plea guilty to indecent solicitation of a child. The plea stemmed from an incident that happened in August 2024 following a party at her residence, when a boy rebuffed her advances, left the residence and contacted his mother. The boy’s mother then alerted Farmington police. Miller, who at the time was a Farmington School District employee, was arrested shortly thereafter.
The clinician who made the recommendation, Dr. Kristina Strauss of Bloomington, is expected to revise it. Miller underwent sex-offender and pre-sentence evaluations.
Miller’s attorney, Rob Hanauer of Peoria, said his client has been living at home with her children. It wasn’t stated in court how many children Miller has.
After Rasmussen read in court the no-contact-with-minors requirement, Miller whispered to Hanauer, who was seated next to her. Hanauer asked Rasmussen to pause the hearing. Miller and her attorney then conferred for about five minutes in a hallway outside the courtroom.
“There is confusion in the language of it,” Hanauer said after the hearing resumed.
Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Padalino suggested a change in judges might have complicated the issue. The judge who had been presiding over Miller’s court appearances, Thomas Ewing, retired in January.
“This judge does not want ambiguity,” Padalino said following the hearing. “He wants to make sure we’re all in agreement about what (the order) says. We kind of know what it says from dealing with this, but I can see it from the judge’s point of view.”
Miller’s crime, a felony, is punishable by two to five years in state prison. But the deal Hanauer negotiated with the prosecution did not include prison time.
Among other stipulations, Miller is to receive two years’ probation, pay $2,064 in fines and fees and spend eight days in the Fulton County Jail, served over four weekends. Had Miller been sentenced as scheduled, the first weekend would have begun at 9 a.m. March 13 and ended at 9 a.m. March 15.
The hearing included a victim-impact statement from the boy’s mother, Courtney Rodich. Through tears, Rodich praised her son’s judgment in leaving Miller’s residence and running almost a mile to seek help.
“A 13-year-old boy should not have to run for safety from a grown woman,” Rodich said.
Rodich said her son has a serious lung disease in which the median age of survival is 40. She also said the experience with Miller caused her son to question his self-worth initially. Miller, who wore a black-and-white flannel shirt and black yoga pants, didn’t appear to look at Rodich as she spoke.
“Every hearing we have sat at, we have watched you smile,” Rodich said. “Are you that narcissistic to believe you would walk away from this? I’m sure whatever the sentence is, it will never be enough.
“There will be no forgiveness. We will accept no apologies. You knew exactly what you were doing and what your endgame was.”
