Pediatrics association former employee pleads guilty to stealing books

A former American Academy of Pediatrics employee on Tuesday pleaded guilty to stealing more than $9,000 worth of books from the Elk Grove Village association.

Robert Herling, 47, of Mokena, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and was sentenced to two years probation. Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta also ordered Herling to pay $9,392.86 in restitution. Herling’s attorney handed a check in that amount to prosecutors in court, who in turn gave the check to an AAP representative.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics was deceived by the defendant’s actions,” said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Crowe.

In September 2009, Herling — the AAP’s director of the sales division — instructed an employee to open an account in a fraudulent name, Crowe said. Herling subsequently had the employee send books offered for sale by AAP to an address in Worth, where he picked them up, Crowe said.

Herling, who worked for the AAP from 2007 to 2009, did the same thing about a year later in August 2010, Crowe said.