Melodie Gliniewicz

Melodie Gliniewicz, the widow of former Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Gliniewicz, formally pleaded not guilty to four new charges in an open court hearing.

The April 4 session answered three counts of conspiracy and one count of misuse of charitable funds for personal or business use, which were approved by a Lake County Grand Jury last month.

Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim had previously issued a press release stating the new indictments were forwarded through his office, as a matter of amendment to the original charges, which is permissible under state law. All the charges have resulted from an initial Jan. 27 evidentiary hearing about financial improprieties with the Fox Lake Explorer Post 300 bank accounts.

Prosecutors allege that she, and her late husband, had fiduciary responsibilities as adult advisers in maintaining the accounts and misspent more than $10,000 for personal items. Bank records, obtained through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, indicated loans, restaurant tabs, a Hawaiian vacation, and entertainment costs were paid from the accounts.

“Cases are obviously under continual review by our office, and our investigators, so we are able to dismiss and add charges when information becomes available,” said Cynthia Vargas, the state’s attorney’s office communications manager. “The case is moving through the discovery stage, and case management conferences are being conducted by both sides.

“This is the normal procedure, during the actual pre-trial stage, with the filing of motions such as fitness hearings, and other relevant issues,” she said. “Concerning the investigation of further bank fraud allegations, it is still ongoing.”

The Lake County Grand Jury had already indicted Gliniewicz on three counts of disbursing charitable funds without authority and for personal benefit (Class 2 felonies), one count of disbursing charitable funds without authority and for personal benefit (Class 3 felony), one count of money laundering (Class 2 felony), and one count of money laundering (Class 3 felony).

Vargas stated that one felony count was dismissed by the prosecution Feb. 3, and the four new charges, two felonies and two misdemeanors, will be addressed at a May 17 hearing.

“According to our documents, she pleaded on the new indictments, counts 7-10, which are one count of conspiracy (Class 3 felony), one count of misuse of charitable funds for personal or business use (Class 2 felony), and two Class A misdemeanors,” Vargas said.

“Depending upon the elements of each offense, the two misdemeanors counts did not meet the criteria for what they are able to charge at a felony level.”

The four new charges carry the weight of no additional jail time. Coupled with the original indictments, Gliniewicz faces a sentencing range of seven years incarceration to being granted probation. She also has no previous history of criminal offenses.

The information came to light, following the Sept. 1 shooting of Lt. Charles Gliniewicz in a wooded area on Honing Road. At a Nov. 1 press conference, then-Lake County Major Crimes Task Force commander George Filenko stated that the death was “actually a carefully staged suicide” masked as a homicide.

More than 6,500 phone texts and emails between the officer and two individuals were recovered, and pointed to the financial malfeasance. It was implied that Gliniewicz shot himself, due to the improprieties being disclosed through an asset audit, being conducted by Fox Lake Village Administrator Ann Marrin.

Fox Lake received more than 25 terabytes of documents, photos, and information compiled during the task force’s investigation, although the explorer post bank records are still under review.

“The Village is diligently going through the information, although it’s slow going, due to the massive amount of material,” said Marrin.

Lake County undersheriff Ray Rose had issued the following statement:

“The investigation revealed money was withdrawn from the police explorer account over the course of several years. Detectives determined this money was used to finance a number of personal expenses and personal finances.”

Also pertinent to the Gliniewicz case are dispensation matters of the widow’s pension from the Fox Lake Pension Board. Former president Frank Loffredo stated that the application forms were sent Sept. 2, but as of late December, had not been returned or completed.

“To my knowledge, it has yet to be applied for, and there is no movement on it,” Marrin said.

Although funds from the widow’s personal checking and savings accounts were frozen, former Lake County judge Christopher Starck did released a portion of the held-funds starting Nov. 19, to help her pay immediate debts.

Gliniewicz remains free on a $50,000 bond, as she posted the required 10 percent amount. Requests for comment from defense attorney, Donald Morisson, have not been successful.