Former Mount Prospect village manager pleads guilty in hit-and-run
Michael Janonis, who served as Mount Prospect's village manager for two decades, pleaded guilty Friday to failure to give information following an accident, a misdemeanor, according to Cook County court records.
Janonis was sentenced to two years of supervision and 240 hours of community service; he also was ordered to pay $2,934 in fines.
The charges stemmed from a hit-and-run crash in August in Prospect Heights.
He was initially charged with DUI, failure to notify damage to an unattended vehicle and illegal possession and transportation of liquor.
According to Prospect Heights police, Janonis was found with an open bottle of vodka in his car after an employee at 7-Eleven called police to report a hit-and-run.
The employee told police he saw a blue Toyota Cruiser back into a Toyota Camry in the business' parking lot at 1 N. Wolf Road before the vehicle turned south from Wolf Road and east from Camp McDonald Road and onto nearby Mandel Lane.
Police found the vehicle on Mandel Lane and could see damage to the rear the vehicle as they approached to talk with Janonis, 59, of the 1300 block of Burning Bush, Mount Prospect.
Police said Janonis' blood alcohol level was .366 - more than four times the legal threshold.
After serving as village manager for 24 years, Janonis and the village parted ways in April of 2015 after spending the previous five months on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for unspecified reasons.
At the time, Mayor Arlene Juracek confirmed that the board asked Janonis to leave. The board approved a separation agreement that totaled more than $200,000 in salary, a lump-sum payment and other compensation to end his position with the village. His salary was more than $184,000 annually at the time.
Janonis was charged with DUI in June 2010 after being stopped for speeding in McHenry. He blew a .218 - almost three times the legal threshold. At the time, he denied having a drinking problem.
"This is not an indication of who I am or how I typically act," Janonis told the Daily Herald in 2010. "It was a combination of dumb things. I was with a bunch of high school friends at a golf outing all day and we didn't eat lunch."
He pleaded guilty to those charges and was placed on one year of supervision, was fined $2,500 plus court costs and was required to attend court-mandated counseling. Janonis was not disciplined by the village for those charges.
Attempts to reach Janonis or his attorney by phone Friday were unsuccessful.