Woman who triggered Gliniewicz manhunt owes $20,000 to police
A Vernon Hills woman owes $20,000 to a pair of Lake County law enforcement agencies after admitting Monday she made a false report in 2015 that set off a massive manhunt for the possible killers of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz.
Kristin Kiefer, 32, also was sentenced to two years of probation and 250 hours of public service as part of a deal in which she pleaded guilty to felony disorderly conduct.
The charge stems from a report Kiefer made Sept. 2, 2015, a day after Gliniewicz was found shot to death in Fox Lake. Authorities said she told police that two men tried to get into her vehicle while it was stopped along Route 12 near Volo.
That kicked off an hourslong manhunt that had 85 law enforcement officers, two helicopters and several police dogs descending on a cornfield to search for the men, authorities said.
Kiefer later told investigators she made up the story because she wanted attention.
As part of the plea agreement reached Monday, Kiefer must pay $20,000 to the Lake County sheriff's office and Lake County Major Crimes Task Force to help cover their costs from the manhunt. The $10,000 bail she posted the night she was arrested was transferred to the agencies to cover half the restitution.
She also must pay $3,121 in court fines and probation fees, undergo mental health and substance testing, be on a curfew and maintain full-time employment. She is not allowed to have any contact with the Lake County sheriff's office outside official police business.
"An amicable resolution to a case is always beneficial to both sides, despite the fact that neither side is 100 percent happy with the outcome," her attorney, Gal Pissetzky, said Monday.
If Kiefer does not violate probation, Judge Victoria Rossetti said in court, Pissetzky will be allowed to file a petition to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor.
Gliniewicz was found shot to death Sept. 1 in a swampy area of Fox Lake. In November 2015, investigators announced Gliniewicz killed himself to cover up his embezzlement of funds from the Fox Lake Law Enforcement Explorers Post 300.