Elgin police officer gets jail for obstructing justice

A former Elgin police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to a misdemeanor charge of attempted obstruction of justice, in exchange for having felony charges of official misconduct and obstruction of justice dropped.

Michael Sullivan, 54, agreed to a sentence of 30 days in jail and 24 months of probation.

“The court’s highest priority is to maintain the integrity of the court,” Kane County Associate Judge Allen Anderson told Sullivan, in accepting the plea. “You certainly disappointed the people you worked with.”

Sullivan will serve 22 days of his sentence starting Aug. 24, and the remainder in October.

He will also have to perform 200 hours of community service.

In the plea, Sullivan agreed that he had moved a cellphone from his squad car to the scene of a crime. According to his attorney, Brian Telander, Sullivan did so because he found the phone, supposedly stolen during a robbery, in his squad car, and thought he had forgotten to search the squad car. Sullivan felt bad about what he had done, Telander said, and told his supervisor about it the next day. When he was indicted, however, authorities said Sullivan had done it to bolster his career and get a promotion. Sullivan was a patrol officer.

The state’s attorney dropped the robbery prosecution because of Sullivan’s actions, and the accused man has sued Sullivan.

Sullivan had worked for Elgin for almost 10 years; he was placed on administrative leave, then resigned shortly afterward.

He had faced probation or up to five years in prison on the felony charges of official misconduct and obstruction of justice.