Former Des Plaines cop admits to inflating DUI arrest figures
A former Des Plaines police commander has pleaded guilty to charges of inflating DUI arrest numbers to receive federal funds for police overtime reimbursements.
Tim Veit, 56, of Mount Prospect, agreed to a plea deal Wednesday in which he admitted to a misdemeanor charge of making false statements in federal reports. Those statements led to the police department fraudulently receiving $183,984 from a federally-funded drunken driving enforcement campaign.
Of that amount, federal prosecutors say Veit personally received $31,915 in overtime payments.
As part of the plea deal, prosectors dropped a felony charge filed against Veit in February 2013.
Veit could have faced up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony, but instead will face up to one year in prison, a fine of $100,000, or supervised release, for pleading guilty to the misdemeanor. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.
Veit attorney Tony Masciopinto said the plea agreement, which still needs to be approved by a federal judge, "strikes the proper balance for reasonable punishment given all the circumstances.
"He's suffered significantly," Masciopinto added. "He's going to suffer significantly more in the future and this agreement strikes the proper balance that enables him to provide for his family going forward and not destroy all he's worked for in 30-plus years of being a law enforcement officer."
Veit, who retired from the Des Plaines Police Department in April 2012 after 31 years, is currently employed part-time as a private security officer, Masciopinto said.
Veit oversaw the police department's administration of the Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program. According to federal prosecutors, Veit inflated drunken driving arrest numbers on reporting forms between 2009 and 2012 in order to receive additional funding from the program. That funding, administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation, was used to pay overtime costs of officers conducting the impaired-driving enforcement campaign.
Veit inflated the numbers "with the understanding that the true number of DUI arrests would not meet the performance objectives of the STEP enforcement campaigns and, if the number of arrests were not inflated, Des Plaines would not have qualified for STEP grants," according to the federal plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Veit reported a total of 152 DUI arrests, even though only 30 arrests were actually made.
Between 2009 and 2012, IDOT authorized $170,366 in STEP funds for Des Plaines' impaired-driving enforcement efforts. IDOT suspended the grant in early 2012 after the city notified it of potential problems with its record keeping.
Last year, 13 rank-and-file officers served suspensions ranging from seven to 60 days and also agreed to make restitution to the city ranging from $184 to $787 for their role in misrepresenting the number of hours worked.
In February, the city of Des Plaines agreed to pay IDOT $92,000 in a settlement over the misuse of grant funds.