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Big federal shoe drops in Dolton, Thornton Township as top aide to Tiffany Henyard indicted

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Illinois

* Click here to read the indictment. From WGN…

The top administrator in both Thornton township and village of Dolton has been indicted for bankruptcy fraud.

Keith Freeman is accused of underreporting his income from the village and township during his own personal bankruptcy proceedings.

Freeman works for Dolton mayor and Thornton township supervisor Tiffany Henyard whose own spending, transparency and leadership style have come into question in a series of WGN Investigates reports.

Freeman was also the registered agent for the Tiffany Henyard Cares Foundation, which WGN Investigates has reported gathering much of its early funding from the township and has failed to document its spending.

* US Attorney press release…

A senior administrator for both the Village of Dolton, Ill. and Thornton Township, Ill. has been charged in federal court with engaging in a bankruptcy fraud scheme involving the making of false statements in his bankruptcy petition to conceal from creditors his assets and sources of income and a significant claim against him.

An indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges KEITH DOUGLAS FREEMAN, 45, of Orland Park, Ill., with one count of bankruptcy fraud. The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, and Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Trustee Program. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason A. Julien and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Netols.

The officials noted that Freeman was indicted as part of an ongoing federal investigation.

According to the indictment, Freeman on Jan. 3, 2024, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. The petition included a Schedules and Statement of Financial Affairs – a document in which the debtor is required to identify, among other things, all of his assets and sources of income, as well as any claims against him. The indictment alleges that Freeman made several materially false statements and omissions in the document, including knowingly underreporting income he derived from his employment as both the Village Administrator for Dolton and the Municipality Manager for Thornton Township, as well as fees he received from his private consulting business. Freeman also allegedly concealed that the Village of Robbins, Ill. had filed a claim against him related to approximately $90,396 that Freeman received in excess of his authorized salary while he was the Village Administrator for Robbins, a position he held from 2017 to 2021.

Freeman also furnished the Chapter 7 Trustee with a purported copy of his 2022 individual income tax return, which represented that Freeman’s total income from employment was $45,186. The indictment states that Freeman knew he had not filed an income tax return for that year, and that his actual income, which included a $100,000 salary for the Dolton position alone, substantially exceeded that amount.

It was further part of the scheme that on Jan. 30, 2024, while testifying under oath at a meeting of creditors, Freeman falsely represented that he was not an employee of Dolton and that he did not receive payment from Dolton, the indictment states. The following month, Freeman allegedly caused his pay from Dolton to be directly deposited into a recently opened bank account that he had not disclosed to the creditors or the Chapter 7 Trustee.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The feds usually bust somebody for things like this and then use that as leverage to move up the food chain. In this case, it looks like Mayor/Supervisor Tiffany Henyard may very well be the ultimate target.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 12:41 pm

Comments

I just want to know if Henyard and crew REALLY thought they would get away with all of this?

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 12:46 pm
Excited for the “find out” portion of this saga.

Comment by curtis Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:05 pm
The hardest part of this investigation will be in preventing a stampede to the witness stand to testify against her

Comment by JB13 Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:11 pm
I appreciate Mayor Henyard for speedrunning the stereotypical Chicago pol experience.

Comment by SWSider Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:13 pm
This may go beyond a Made For T.V. Movie and become a Mini-Series.

Comment by The Magnificent Purple Walnut Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:39 pm
The “feels” I get from this whole thing (and mind you, this is merely a humble suggestion to our host) is that there is a possible opportunity for a special “Golden Horseshoe” in the making.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:45 pm
@JS Mill ==I just want to know if Henyard and crew REALLY thought they would get away with all of this?==

Because the vast majority of people do get away with it, often for decades. How long we were all waiting for Madigan or various Chicago aldermen to get got? How many other smaller cities and towns are just as bad, but don’t draw enough attention because they are smaller and off the radar?

This is why fraudsters and corruption always persist. Because we freak out over people robbing retail for thousands of dollars, while much bigger crooks are robbing all of us for hundreds of thousands or more.

Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 1:50 pm
*How long we were all waiting for Madigan*

Comment by This Train’s Never Late Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 2:07 pm
Mayor Tiffany Henyard may soon have a spin on the dance floor of the Dirksen Federal Building. One can only hope.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 2:19 pm
Between the cancer charity and Las Vegas trip…Mayor Henyard is a real piece of work.

And let’s not forget her owing $3K in back taxes.

Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 2:36 pm
Just a heads up to reporters heading out to Dolton for the first time in the next few,days,weeks and months.

Due to the town having two rail yards, either fully or partially in town, residents routinely drive around lowered crossing gates. Don’t be surprised by this. It has been this way for over 70 years (perhaps even longer).

Also, it’s pronounced Dolton with an o, not a.

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 2:48 pm
=== How long we were all waiting for Madigan ===

Madigan and his crew worked pretty hard and pretty smart trying to get away with it. I don’t think the Dolton crew has that level of discipline. Or any at all.

Comment by vern Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 2:59 pm
Ben Bradley carves another notch into his reportin’ stick.

Comment by The Truth Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 3:36 pm
Well, obviously Lori Lightfoot’s top notch investigative work lead to this development. /s

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 4:24 pm
I’m wondering who will play the Mayor in the Netflix docuseries…

Comment by Just a guy Tuesday, Apr 16, 24 @ 4:40 pm