Ex-DuPage 911 employee gets a year in jail for theft

A former computer systems manager for a DuPage County 911 telephone system was sentenced Wednesday to one year in a jail work-release program for stealing more than $150,000.

Shaun Lang, 28, of Gilberts faced up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in April to official misconduct and theft charges.

Lang, though, did not have a criminal history and repaid the money he embezzled between the summer of 2003 and 2005 at the DuPage Public Safety Communications Center, or DuComm. He also was placed on four years' probation.

Lang, whose annual salary was $90,000, was authorized to use corporate credit cards. But along with legitimate expenses, prosecutor Tim Diamond said Lang lived "high on the hog" buying clothing, electronics, food, alcohol and pet supplies for his own use. He also spent $5,000 on pornographic DVDs.

Lang also pretended to buy bona fide items for DuComm using false invoices from his own company, Delleanor Tech. The credit card accounts were set up so only Lang saw monthly billing statements.

But in the fall of 2005, a DuComm human resources manager became suspicious after Lang failed to provide copies of bills to her when she attempted a routine review.

He later supplied three months' worth of statements, but DuComm staff compared them with copies from the credit card company and found discrepancies.

His attorney, Kent Sinson, argued Lang never would have stolen the money if he hadn't been facing financial problems related to his mother's cancer death and wife's high-risk pregnancy.

"He will forever be a convicted felon," Sinson said. "He's going to have to live with that the rest of his life. Since the moment of his arrest, he's tried to do everything he can to fix this."

Lang, who started working for DuComm in 1998, was fired in December 2005 and arrested a few months later.

DuComm, based in Glendale Heights, serves 27 area fire and police agencies.