Richmond man had ‘arsenal of weapons’ stashed around home and in ‘hidden walls,’ prosecutors allege

A Richmond man – who is not allowed to have any guns or ammunition due to what authorities said was a 2007 felony conviction – is accused of possessing “an arsenal of weapons” found hidden around his home this week.

The charge comes as the defendant Jerome Ruckdeschel, 66, is being sued by an elderly family member who claims Ruckdeschel stole more than $1 million from him, court records show.

Ruckdeschel is charged with unlawful use or possession of weapons and ammunition by a convicted felons, a Class 3 felony, according to the criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Court.

The complaint alleges he “knowingly possessed ... several handguns of varying caliber, long guns of varying caliber, and shotguns, including ammunition, after having been convicted of a felony.” Because he was convicted in Lake County in 2007 on a felony theft offense out of Round Lake, Ruckdeschel is not permitted to possess guns or ammunition, prosecutors said.

In detaining Ruckdeschel in the county jail pretrial Wednesday, Judge Carl Metz said in an order filed in the court that the move was necessary to “prevent the defendant’s willful flight from prosecution.”

Metz said the state’s “probable cause statement and proffer indicated the defendant built up an arsenal of weapons which included dozens of loaded guns with magazines inserted, hidden all over the house, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”

Metz said Ruckdeschel, “is a real and present threat” because he allegedly “had an arsenal of weapons when he was not allowed to have them.”

Based on probable cause, Metz said “a massive force will be needed to sweep the property and home to ensure there are no more weapons inside, but even then, given that the weapons and ammunition were found in hidden walls and jackets, the court cannot be satisfied that all weapons and ammunition will be removed.”

He is due in court Oct. 22. He did not have an attorney filed in his case as of Thursday.

In another legal matter in McHenry County, Ruckdeschel and his wife, who are currently divorcing, are being sued in civil court for $1.2 million, court records show.

The lawsuit was filed by an elderly family member, a widower living in Cary. The man accuses the couple of “embezzel[ing]” nearly $500,000 from his checking and savings accounts, draining an investment account of $400,000 and stealing jewelry, according to the lawsuit. Neither Ruckdeschel nor his estranged wife have been charged criminally in connection to that case, records indicate.

Jerome Ruckdeschel is being sued for breach of fiduciary duty, both are being sued for financial exploitation of an elderly person. The plaintiff also is seeking to get back his engagement and wedding rings, watch and custom jewelry as well as deeds for his and his late wife’s cemetery plots, the lawsuit said.

After the relative was hospitalized in September 2020 due to a fall, Jerome Ruckdeschel was appointed power of attorney with the responsibility of maintaining household finances and paying his bills. The lawsuit claims that, at the time, the relative had $463,000 in checking and savings accounts, received a monthly pension of about $14,000 and had an investment fund of $400,000. The couple “began to systematically embezzle” from his bank accounts, the lawsuit said.

The couple is accused of writing checks, making purchases with his debit cards, online transfers and ATM withdrawals from the man’s accounts that, by November 2020, amounted to $153,000, the civil lawsuit contends.

“The embezzlement did not end there,” the lawsuit said. “By May, 2022, Defendants had embezzled every last dollar in the Plaintiff’s bank accounts. The full extent of the theft and the whereabouts of the money are unknown.”

The man said he was unable to pay his caregivers or for any of his basic needs. The couple allegedly “refused to provide bank account statements or provide information regarding the whereabouts of the assets,” the suit claims. They are accused of using the man’s and his late wife’s credit cards and opening two credit cards in the man’s name on which and they racked up charges of $80,000 and withdrawing $400,000 from an investment account in 2022. The lawsuit said the couple have told the relative “all of the savings had been lost in bad investments.”

Among other claims in the civil lawsuit, the couple is accused of keeping the man’s tax refund money for 2021 and 2022. At the time the couple allegedly stole from the elderly man, he was supporting Ruckdeschel because he was unemployed and could not work due to an injury by giving him $2,000 monthly, the lawsuit said.

The relative has since filed to intervene in the couple’s pending divorce case as well.

A document asking for bill of particulars, filed by Jeannie Riddings, attorney for Susan Ruckdeschel, counters that the allegations against her are “vague” and the lawsuit has “no factual” argument as to what she did or did not do. It also said at no time did she have “fiduciary duty to the” relative. Riddings wrote that there is nothing in the lawsuit specifying what Susan Ruckdeschel has done or not done to be named as a defendant for such exploitations “other than being married to” Jerome Ruckdeschel.

Eric Sdrenka, attorney for Jerome Ruckdeschel in the civil lawsuit, said his client “vehemently” denies all complaints against him.

“We are disputing he took that money in the first place,” Sdrenka said. There are other outstanding issues in the case. Regarding allegations Jerome Ruckdeschel stole the jewelry and watch, the attorney said there is “absolutely no basis for those claims.”