Melodie and Charles Joseph Gliniewicz

The saga of the late Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz came to a close when his widow, Melodie, accepted a $1 million payout derived from his pension holdings.  

Members of the Fox Lake Village Board and Fox Lake Police Pension Board approved a nine-page joint settlement in the case. 

The agreement bars any future claims against the village’s police pension fund by Melodie Gliniewicz, or her family, and carries a nondisclosure stipulation. It absolves the village and Police Pension Board from any liability.  

The Fox Lake police lieutenant was found dead from a gunshot wound in a wooded area on Sept. 1, 2015, after calling Fox Lake police dispatch that he was looking into suspicious activity near the 100 block of Honing Road, setting off an epic manhunt and a chain of events that still leaves unanswered questions.  

It brought the resources of multiple law enforcement jurisdictions to bear, including the FBI, over the next week.  

The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force pursued their investigation as a homicide. 

It was revealed at a November 2015 press conference that the crime was, in reality, a “carefully staged” suicide to cover up financial improprieties with Explorer Boy Scout Troop 300, run by Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, under the Fox Lake Police Department banner.  

Melodie Gliniewicz filed a claim with the Police Pension Board for benefits in January 2016, but then withdrew the claim. That same month, she was indicted on 11 felony counts of money laundering and using charitable funds for personal expenses. 

Fred Loffredo, then-Police Pension Board president, said they would wait for the criminal case to be resolved, before making any decisions. He also said the widow was entitled to 50 percent to 75 percent annually from Lt. Gliniewicz’  salary of $96,345.08, as he was never charged.  

During the intervening years, the criminal case took many detours including two escalations to the 2nd District Appellate Court. Prosecutors sought a ruling on whether cellphone information between the spouses was protected by marital privilege. 

Felony counts were also dropped during the intervening years. 

In February 2022, Melodie Gliniewicz accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty. It dropped the remaining four counts in exchange for a conviction on one felony count of deceptive practices, through Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart’s office.  

She was sentenced in April 2022, and received two years of probation, with the possibility of 90 days in jail for any violations. During the sentencing hearing, Melodie Gliniewicz said, “I want to make it clear. I never took a cent from the Explorer (Boy Scout) fund … that’s not embezzling funds … not when you pay it back. 

“Every time he’d borrow money, he’d let me know, and I’d write it down,” she said. 

The joint settlement agreement states that discussions on the pension, accrued by her husband, began in Spring 2023, nearly a year before her probation was set to expire. 

Eric Geske, the Fox Lake Police Pension Board president, called a “48-hour notice” special meeting. The board executed the agreement on Nov. 22, 2024. The Fox Lake Village Board unanimously followed suit on Nov. 26, 2024. 

The Police Pension Board agenda on Jan. 20, 2025 shows a line item, “Gliniewicz update: discussion/action.” 

Those meeting minutes will be ratified at the board’s April 21 session, although no minutes have been posted on the village’s website since the July 15, 2024 Pension Board meeting. 

The joint settlement agreement states that the Police Pension Board has the exclusive authority to control and manage the police pension fund. It also has the authority to settle any claims and “resolve all of the disputes … for the purpose of avoiding future controversy, costs, legal fees, inconvenience, and any future litigation in this matter.” 

Neither members of the Police Pension Board nor its attorney, Laura Goodloe, was available for comment as of press time.