The former operator of Dixie Truckers Home in McLean, Ill., was indicted by a McLean County grand jury Wednesday for alleged theft of fuel tax payments to the state.

Mark Beeler, who owned Dixie Management Group, said the indictment was a surprise, since the attorney general's office had not returned his attorney's calls as far back as last spring.
The indictment, as reported by The Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper, contains four counts of theft in excess of $100,000, and four counts of failing to pay the state more than $400,000 in fuel taxes collected in late 1999 and early 2000.
Beeler said that he had negotiated a settlement with the state two years ago, agreeing to pay $120,000 in good faith, and $75,000 per month until the principal, penalties and interest were paid off. "We never got a definitive number (of the total)," he said. "We think they applied all payments to penalties and interest."
Last spring, with the truckstop's business having declined with the economy, Beeler's management company filed bankruptcy under Chapter 7.
He said that his attorney's calls to the attorney general's office, seeking to negotiate further settlement, were not returned. "We thought they were going to drop it."
Instead, Beeler said, the attorney general's office informed the local newspaper of the indictment before he received a notice to appear. "Something stinks," he said. "We've already paid the amounts (published) in the Pantagraph, in our opinion."
"We're in the process of looking for a criminal attorney. I've never seen a case where a felony is charged for not paying fuel taxes."
Dixie Truckers Home is known as the first truckstop on Route 66, dating back to the late 1920s. Founded by Beeler's great-grandfather-in-law, it was one of the first 24-hour truckstops, emphasizing the round-the-clock aspect by burying the keys to the front door in the concrete of the paved driveway.
Beeler was active in the truckstop group NATSO, and was its 1998 chairman.
After Beeler's management company declared bankruptcy, it was leased to Quantum, a South Carolina company. It is now owned and operated by Shirley Oil Supply Co., owned by Beeler's parents.