Dolton deputy police chief charged with bankruptcy fraud

Federal prosecutors have accused Dolton Deputy Police Chief Lewis Lacey of lying about his assets to avoid paying out a settlement related to a lawsuit.

Lacey, 61, of Matteson, is charged with perjury, bankruptcy fraud and making false statements and declarations in a bankruptcy case, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement.

Prosecutors say Lacey has filed numerous bankruptcy cases in court since the 1980s, including petitions in 2019 and 2020. Those recent petitions automatically stayed enforcement of a settlement agreement Lacey reached in 2017 with the plaintiff in a lawsuit.

The settlement agreement was for $55,000, and Lacey still owed $43,000, prosecutors said.

Lacey allegedly underreported his monthly income and concealed bank accounts he controlled in the recent bankruptcy cases, prosecutors said. He also allegedly falsely represented that he was separated from his spouse and that she did not contribute to his monthly income or mortgage.

“The false representations allowed Lacey to fraudulently calculate his monthly income for purposes of repayment of his creditors as substantially less than it should have been if his spouse’s contributions were included,” prosecutors said.

Lewis’ indictment comes as embattled Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard faces an investigation into her financial dealings. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was appointed by the village’s board of trustees to look into “misappropriation and misspending” by the mayor’s office over the last two years.

Lightfoot revealed the initial findings of her investigation during a special meeting last week, informing community members that the village was millions of dollars in debt.