Deputy Police Chief Working For “America’s Worst Mayor” Indicted On Bankruptcy Fraud Charges

Dolton Deputy Police Chief Lewis Lacey, who works in the same town as “America’s Worst Mayor” who we highlighted just yesterday, was indicted on Monday of this week for bankruptcy fraud. 

Prosecutors have charged a 61-year-old Matteson resident with bankruptcy fraud, making false statements, and perjury, each carrying up to five years in prison, according to ABC Chicago.

They allege that since the 1980s, Lacey has filed multiple bankruptcy cases, including in 2019 and 2020, to avoid paying a $43,000 settlement. He is also accused of lying about his income, bank accounts, and marital status in these filings. At the time of the alleged offenses, Lacey was a police officer in Dolton.

A Justice Department press release stated he was “allegedly engaging in a scheme to conceal assets and income from creditors and prevent payment of the settlement of a lawsuit.”

“According to the indictment, Lacey since the 1980s has filed numerous personal bankruptcy cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including petitions in 2019 and 2020,” it continued.

“The recent petitions automatically stayed enforcement of a settlement agreement Lacey had reached in 2017 with the plaintiff in a lawsuit in state court.  The indictment alleges that Lacey filed the 2019 bankruptcy petition shortly after the plaintiff moved to enforce the settlement agreement, accusing Lacey of still owing $43,000 of the $55,000 settlement.”

“The indictment alleges that Lacey made several materially false and fraudulent representations in oral statements and documents submitted in the bankruptcy cases, including underreporting his monthly income and concealing bank accounts that he controlled,” it says. 

His lawyer told ABC “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,” the report says. 

Recall yesterday we wrote about Dolton mayor Tiffany Aiesha Henyard, who disappeared after an investigation into the village’s spending revealed more than $3.5 million in debt, “out of control” credit card spending and $40,000 spend on Amazon purchases in one day. 

Village trustees hired Lightfoot to address concerns about excessive spending, including taxpayer-funded billboards, ads, lavish dinners, and trips, according to CBS. Earlier this year it was reported Henyard spent $7,650 on hair and makeup after taking office and billed the city for it.