ROCKFORD – A former comptroller accused of stealing $53 million from her small northern Illinois city to fund a lavish lifestyle, including one of the nation’s foremost horse-breeding operations, is expected to plead guilty today, federal prosecutors said.

Rita Crundwell will plead guilty to a federal charge that accuses her of stealing the public money while overseeing the public finances of the city of Dixon, U.S. attorney’s spokesman Randall Samborn said.

Prosecutors said she stole the money over several years and siphoned it into a secret bank account.