Former Dolton police Chief Lewis Lacey, an ally to former Mayor Tiffany Henyard, has made a plea deal on federal bankruptcy fraud charges first brought in August 2024.
Lacey entered the plea Friday in the case alleging he lied under oath in a scheme to hide assets and income from creditors to avoid paying more than $40,000 in a lawsuit settlement.
The nine-count federal indictment against charged Lacey, of Matteson, with bankruptcy fraud, making false statements and declarations in a bankruptcy case, and perjury. Each count carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Lacey is pleading guilty to count one, devising a scheme to defraud, and for the purpose of executing and concealing the scheme, filing a petition opening a bankruptcy case, according to the agreement.
Lacey will face a maximum of five years in prison could be fined up to $250,000. Judge Thomas Durkin may also impose a term of supervised release lasting up to three years, according to the agreement.
As part of the agreement, Lacey agreed to “fully and truthfully cooperate in any matter in which he is called upon” by federal investigators.
“This cooperation shall include providing complete and truthful information in any investigation and pre-trial preparation” as well as “in any criminal, civil or administrative proceeding,” according to the plea agreement.
The extent of Lacey’s cooperation could influence his sentencing, which was postponed to occur after he works with prosecutors.
Lacey’s attorney, Gal Pissetzky, did not respond to requests for comment. After Lacey pleaded not guilty to the charges last year, Pissetzky said Lacey’s indictment was the result of a “witch hunt” aimed at Henyard, who lost her bid for reelection by a landslide in February.
Henyard remains under federal investigation for alleged corruption in her previous roles as Dolton mayor and Thornton Township supervisor. No charges have been filed.
The Dolton Village Board placed Lacey on administrative leave the week before his August 2024 indictment. Lacey was with the Dolton Police Department from September 1998 to Aug. 14, 2024, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
Lacey has filed numerous personal bankruptcy cases in Chicago beginning in the 1980s, according to the indictment.
Two petitions filed in 2019 and 2020 automatically stayed enforcement of a settlement agreement Lacey reached in 2017 with the plaintiff in a lawsuit in state court, the indictment alleged.
Dolton police Deputy Chief Lewis Lacey, left, and Mayor Tiffany Henyard before the start of a Dolton Village Board meeting on Aug. 5, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
The lawsuit involved a woman whose husband was killed in Dolton in 2012. According to the suit, Lacey visited the woman and convinced her to give him tens of thousands of dollars from her husband’s life insurance payout.
Lacey acknowledged in court papers that he “expressed sympathy” for the woman and visited her from time to time to “inquire about her safety and well-being,” but he denied taking any money.
After the lawsuit settled for $55,000, Lacey made an initial payment of $12,000, but according to the fraud charges, he twice filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying the additional $43,000.
In filings and statements made under oath, Lewis underreported his monthly income and concealed bank accounts that he controlled, according to the charges.
Among the lies was that he was separated from his wife and that she did not reside with him or contribute to his monthly income and mortgage, the indictment stated. Those lies allowed Lacey to substantially understate his monthly income and avoid creditors, according to the charges.
The charges were similar to those brought in April against Keith Freeman, a longtime aide to Henyard, who was accused of making false statements in his bankruptcy petition filed earlier this year to conceal from creditors his assets and sources of income and a significant claim against him.
Freeman, 45, of Orland Park, has pleaded not guilty.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/25/dolton-police-chief-lewis-lacey-bankruptcy-plea/
