A Will County judge ruled Monday that two New Lenox business owners are not guilty of fraud charges filed by the Will County state’s attorney’s office in 2023, bringing part of a more than two-year battle to a close.
Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak acquitted Jeffery Regnier, owner of Kee Firearms and Training, and Greta Keranen, of Kee Construction, of forgery, and Keranen of loan and wire fraud connected to the purchase of two vehicles. The defendants moved directly to closing arguments without calling any witnesses of their own.
But the New Lenox couple still face another round of charges, including money laundering and filing a fraudulent Illinois sales and use tax return, first filed in 2023. These charges are scheduled for trial on March 2, with a pretrial hearing on Feb. 2.
Prosecutors claimed that Regnier initiated a false claim that Kee Construction earned $400,000 a month on forms used to buy two Ford Broncos in 2023. The state also argued that Keranen later reinforced the lie by signing the paperwork.
The state dropped these charges in July after Bertani-Tomczak denied the prosecutors’ request to reschedule the trial, but refiled them in August. The state also dropped charges of theft by deception and burglary Nov. 17.
The Will County state’s attorney’s office declined to comment Monday on the judge’s ruling.
Defense attorney Lawrence Beaumont said throughout the case the alleged false information on the business credit application was created by the auto dealership and not the defendants. The defendants also claimed the bank that approved the loan did so automatically within seconds and did not rely on the disputed estimate of Kee Construction’s gross monthly profit.
Beaumont said Monday the defendants decided not to call witnesses because the state did not present enough evidence.
“In my opinion, it was clear from the evidence from the state, that they failed to prove their argument beyond a reasonable doubt,” Beaumont said.
The dispute between the business owners and the state also involves several civil forfeiture cases.
The state seized the Ford Broncos they alleged the owners fraudulently purchased, along with investment accounts the defendants said are valued at about $5.5 million, and raided the couples’ house and businesses in 2023 while investigating them for money laundering.
Regnier and Keranen won a case July 16 to recover the seized property and securities under the Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines, but the case was temporarily removed from the court’s active hearing schedule.
The state tried to get the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the case at the end of October, but the high court refused.
The forfeiture case involving the Broncos is set to resume on Dec. 17. Regnier said the defense plans to ask the court to dismiss the civil forfeiture case on Dec. 3.
“We remain confident in the process and in the truth,” Regnier said. “Our goal is simple: to finish every remaining case, clear our names completely and move forward with our lives.”
Kee Firearms closed after the initial charges were brought in 2023. The once popular gun shop was also a source of training for area gun owners.
Keranen and Regnier both expressed gratitude and relief for the ruling Monday, but said it was a difficult journey to the decision.
“While I’m grateful for the verdict, the past 33 months have shown how much damage can happen when the process goes off track — families disrupted, property seized, and lives upended long before anything is proven,” Keranen said Monday.
Regnier said the case demonstrated the danger “when prosecutors pursue charges against law-abiding citizens without evidence of wrongdoing.”
“When that happens, it blurs the line between the good and the bad, and ordinary people pay the price while those responsible face no accountability,” Regnier said. “We hope no other family has to endure what we went through, and we look forward to moving on with our lives.”
The couple was first charged with several felonies for fraud and theft of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds in 2023. Federal officials raided their home and businesses that year while investigating them for money laundering.
Regnier said the investigation began due to a $750,000 cash deposit made to his bank, which he says came from a large spike in gun sales at his store, Kee Firearms and Training in New Lenox, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The business owners filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 9 claiming Will County authorities and the U.S. Secret Service targeted them and others with “frivolous” civil forfeiture cases.
Defendants in the lawsuit are the Will County sheriff’s office, a U.S. Secret Service agent and unknown members of the Will County sheriff’s office and U.S. Secret Service.
awright@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/24/kee-firearms-owners-not-guilty/
