At least some of the more than 400 prime quarter horses belonging to former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell should go on the block at a multi-day, live public auction later this summer in Dixon under a proposal by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Using www.fedbizopps.gov,the Marshals Service has posted a dozen or so documents detailing the requirements to bid for the contract – including the fact that it is open only to small businesses.
Several businesses may be involved eventually, since the bid request specifies the sales will be “as is, where is” and the horses are scattered over 13 states. Most are in Dixon, Ill., and Beloit, Wis.
The details of a Dixon sale -- or any others -- will be finalized when contracts are awarded to qualified horse professionals to sell the horses and other items seized from Crundwell after her April 17 arrest at Dixon City Hall.
Bid proposals, which must include a detailed sale plan, must be submitted to marshals by July 5. All sales will be completed within 45 days of the contract award date.
Earlier this month, Federal Magistrate P. Michael Mahoney granted an agreed motion between prosecutors and Crundwell to sell 401 horses, 21 embryos, 13 saddles, and frozen stallion semen from eight horses.
Prosecutors say it will take two to three months to complete the sales, and all proceeds will be placed into escrow until the case is resolved.
Crundwell, 59, is charged with misappropriating more than $53 million from the city over two decades, according to prosecutors.