WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Melodie Gliniewicz was sentenced to probation Tuesday, ending a six-year courtroom saga that began after her police officer husband staged his suicide in 2015 to make it appear he had been killed in the line of duty.
In a Lake County courtroom, the widow of Charles “Joe” Gliniewicz tearfully accepted responsibility for her part in the financial mismanagement that compelled her husband to take his life.
Gliniewicz, 57, said she knew her husband had been commingling personal money into an account for an Explorers youth law enforcement program that Joe Gliniewicz, a Fox Lake police lieutenant, oversaw as adviser. She said she would reimburse the Explorer account to make up for money her husband had spent on personal items.
“I would write checks to the Explorers account because inaction would have been worse,” she told Lake County Judge James Booras.
She was charged in 2016 with financial crimes, and pleaded guilty earlier this year to a count of deceptive practices.
She faced up to three years in prison, but the judge Tuesday sentenced her to 24 months of probation and said Gliniewicz could enter Lake County’s Second Chance program. If she satisfactorily completes the terms of her probation, which includes 150 hours of community service, the felony conviction would not go on her record.
The judge also sentenced her to 90 days in the county jail, but he stayed the order. The jail time would be negated if Gliniewicz completes the probation.
Lake County prosecutors urged the judge to not admit Gliniewicz into the Second Chance program.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffery Facklam said records showed an Explorers account debit card controlled by Joe Gliniewicz had been used 2,400 times for purchases over a number of years, including a trip to Hawaii. The fact that Melodie Gliniewicz later reimbursed the Explorers, whose money primarily came from public donations, was not the point, he said.
“This is about public trust in managing charitable contributions,” Facklam told the judge. The Explorers account, he said, “was not a line of credit to go on vacation.”
Gliniewicz attorney Don Morrison said no money was stolen and that his client had a “relative lack of culpability.” Afterward, Morrison said he was happy with the judge’s sentence.
“If there was ever a Second Chance case, this was it,” he said.
Via her attorney, Gliniewicz declined to comment.
The judge said he did not accept Gliniewicz’s explanation that simply reimbursing the Explorers negated the benefits the family enjoyed.
“This was criminal conduct, and she was pleaded guilty to it,” Booras said.
But in fashioning the sentence, the judge said he thought Gliniewicz, who had no previous criminal record, was a good candidate for rehabilitation.
Joe Gliniewicz was found shot to death on Sept. 1, 2015, after radioing that he was following suspects into a wooded area. His death prompted a huge police response.
But Fox Lake village officials had begun asking Gliniewicz questions about the Explorers funds at the time of his death, and authorities later determined he had taken his own life.
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