Traynere

Ogalla

By Nick Reiher

A Will County judge today found Will County Board Member Jacqueline Traynere guilty of two counts of computer tampering in connection with accessing another board member’s county email without authorization two years ago.

The charges had alleged Traynere, on or about March 6, 2024 “… knowingly and without authorization of Judy H. Ogalla, accessed the email of Judy H. Ogalla … .”

In a bench trial after hearing testimony last week, Will County Associate Judge Derek W. Ewanic found that Traynere was guilty of accessing Ogalla’s county emails.

He found her not guilty of forwarding Ogalla’s emails to herself and others. Traynere has said she forwarded an email from County Board Member Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen, to Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant before realizing she still was signed in to Ogalla’s county email account.

Traynere said the issue began when she heard all Will County Board members were issued the same password for their email accounts. She said she tested this by using the email password she was given to try to access the account for Ogalla, who was Board Chair at that time. She still serves on the board.

Traynere said she contacted Ogalla to let her know, and also contacted the county’s IT Department to make them aware.

More than a year later, (Just before the statute of limitations ran out, Ogalla said) Traynere received a copy of the summons to appear on the charges from special prosecutor William X. Elward, but she added only until five days after she had read about it in a local newspaper.

She pleaded not guilty to the three counts of computer tampering at a Sept. 9, 2025, court hearing.

Each count is considered a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 180 days imprisonment in county jail and a maximum fine of $1,500, plus any mandatory court costs. The defendant also could be placed on a period of court supervision, conditional discharge or probation for a maximum of two years.

Contacted after Monday’s verdict, Ogalla said she was pleased that “Judge Ewanic gave a fair decision based on the facts presented in the case.”

Ogalla said of the events of March 6, 2024, that she got an email from Bertino-Tarrant thanking her for sharing the email from Balich.

Since she hadn’t, Ogalla said, she looked in her sent folder, and there was nothing send to Bertino-Tarrant. There also weren’t any other sent emails, even though she had sent some.

“At that point, I didn’t know who had gotten into my emails,” Ogalla said. “I didn’t know how many of the board members’ email were compromised. I called the Sheriff’s Department to ask them what to do. They said to make a police report.”

After contacting the county IT Department, Ogalla said she got a call from Bertino-Tarrant. After Ogalla told her she was pressing charges, she got a call from Traynere about 40 minutes later.

In an emailed statement following today’s verdict, Traynere said she was “deeply disappointed. … I fundamentally disagree with the conclusion that my actions constituted criminal behavior with the requisite intent to commit a crime.

“This verdict does not change the truth of what happened. My actions were never intended to cause harm or interfere with Commissioner Ogalla’s email account in any unlawful manner.

“Throughout this case, I have maintained that while certain technical actions may have occurred, they were never undertaken with criminal intent. The law requires not just that an action took place, but that it was done knowingly and with the purpose of causing unauthorized interference. …

“There is a fundamental difference between (a) Technical Error – Making a mistake while attempting to perform legitimate functions Criminal Tampering – Deliberately interfering with systems with intent to cause harm or disruption.

“My position has always been that this case involves the former, not the latter.”

Sentencing was set for April 7, at which time Ewanic also will consider a separate charge again Traynere.

Elward also had summoned Traynere in connection with an accident she had on March 11 this year involving a person riding a bike in a crosswalk.

The charge alleges Traynere “when traffic control signals were not in place or not in operation, failed to stop and yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger …”

Reports indicate Traynere stopped to check on the bicycle rider and reported the incident to the Bolingbrook Police Department.

After several judges passed on hearing the case, it ultimately was dismissed when no one showed up in court to challenge it. But it was brought up again to be heard.

Traynere said her attorneys will ask for a new trial on April 7. If that is denied, she said they would appeal today’s guilty verdicts.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.