Dolton deputy police chief indicted on charges of bankruptcy fraud, perjury
DOLTON, Ill. (WLS) -- Dolton Deputy Police Chief Lewis Lacey was indicted Monday on bankruptcy charges by a federal grand jury in Chicago.
Prosecutors released a statement, saying the 61-year-old who lives in Matteson has been charged with bankruptcy fraud, making false statements and declarations in a bankruptcy case and perjury. Each count comes with up to five years in prison.
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The indictment comes a week after the village board voted to place Lacey on administrative leave, which Mayor Tiffany Henyard, for whom Lacey is an ally, called political retaliation.
Prosecutors allege that Lacey has filed "numerous" personal bankruptcy cases since the 1980s in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Northern Illinois, including petitions in 2019 and 2020 which automatically stayed enforcement of a settlement Lacey reached in 2017 with a lawsuit plaintiff in state court.
Prosecutors say the indictment alleges Lacey filed the 2019 bankruptcy petition shortly after the plaintiff moved to enforce the $55,000 settlement, saying Lacey still owed them $43,000.
READ MORE: Dolton Village Board places top cop on administrative leave, lays off 8 village employees
Prosecutors also say Lacey made false and fraudulent statements in oral statements and documents submitted in the bankruptcy cases, including about his monthly income and bank accounts under his control. They also allege he lied about being separated from his spouse, and that she did not live with him or contribute to his monthly income or mortgage.
Prosecutors say Lacey was a police officer in the Dolton Police Department during the alleged scheme for which he is charged.
RELATED: Dolton deputy police chief reports to work one day after village board places him on leave
Lacey is the second Dolton official to be charged in federal court with bankruptcy fraud in recent months. Dolton Village Administrator Keith Freeman was also indicted on that charge in April.
Lacey's arraignment has not yet been set. His lawyer said his client maintains his innocence.
"He has been serving the community. He has been a police officer for many years. He has been an outstanding citizen of the city of Dolton, or the village of Dolton," attorney Gal Pissetzky said.
Pissetzky also said Lacey is being used to get at Henyard, who is the target of a federal investigation.
"The government and some people in Dolton have it out for the mayor. And so they decided to go and try to get to the mayor through other people that served under her," he alleged.
The Dolton Village Board has ordered an investigation into the city's finances as well as Mayor Henyard, and hired former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot to lead it. In her presentation of preliminary findings last week, she found several instances in which a staggering amount of overtime was paid to a small number of police officers, in some cases more than their annual salaries
One item highlighted was overtime for Lacey, which totaled over $215,000 from 2022 to 2024.
Former Village Trustee Valeria Stubbs welcome the news, saying residents have had enough.
"I have never seen anything like this in my life all the years I have been involved in the political arena," she said. "I am just so happy that the light is being shined on the corruption and all the wrongdoings of these people that's involved this administration."
