Former Des Plaines cop gets six months in prison for inflating DUI numbers
A former Des Plaines police commander will spend six months in prison for misreporting drunken driving arrest numbers to fraudulently obtain overtime reimbursement through a federal program.
Tim Veit, 57, of Mount Prospect, must also complete 200 hours of community service and pay back restitution of $34,448, under a plea agreement approved Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
"Sir, you know you messed up," Der-Yeghiayan told Veit after handing down the sentence. "It happens. Six months you'll be back and you'll serve your community, and repay your community."
"Yes, sir," Veit responded.
Veit agreed to the plea deal in June, admitting 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, authorities said.
Under the agreement, prosectors agreed to drop a felony charge against Veit, which he pleaded not guilty to in February 2013.
Because Veit was convicted of a misdemeanor - not a felony - he'll be able to keep his police pension under state law. He is earning an annual pension of $89,595, and will get 3 percent annual cost of living increases through 2023, according to Des Plaines Police Pension Fund documents.
Veit, who retired from the Des Plaines Police Department in April 2012 after 31 years, said in court that he loved working for the department and apologized for harming its reputation.
"It was never my intent to harm anybody and it certainly wasn't my intent to gain personally from this," he said.
Police Chief William Kushner, in attendance for the sentencing hearing, told the judge that community trust in the police department has been shaken, and Veit's crime has "widened the schism" between the public and officers.
Defense attorney Tony Masciopinto said Veit strongly believed in DUI enforcement, and tried to comply with the federal program's performance-based "quota system" that provided additional funding with higher arrest totals.
Masciopinto said Veit made one misjudgment, but otherwise had a distinguished career in law enforcement. He noted his service to charitable causes and his family.
"Tim poured his heart and soul into the police department and community," Masciopinto said. "He's a good man. He's accepted responsibility from day one."
Some 25 family and friends were in court for the sentencing hearing.
Der-Yeghiayan said the agreed upon sentence in the plea deal was fair.
"This reminds me of a Shakespearean tragedy, when a good man went bad," the judge said.
Veit oversaw the 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.
Prosecutors said Veit reported a total of 152 DUI arrests, even though only 30 arrests were actually made.
Last year, 13 rank-and-file officers served suspensions and agreed to make restitution to the city for their role in misrepresenting the number of hours worked.
In February, the city agreed to pay IDOT $92,000 in a settlement over the misuse of grant funds. IDOT has suspended the city from receiving additional funds through the program until September 2015.
Veit currently works part-time as a security guard for a Des Plaines manufacturing company. He is due to report to prison Dec. 16.