Wheeling trustee candidate denies crimes, but quickly resigned

A Wheeling trustee candidate was elected in April to an office he could not legally hold, based on records obtained from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The State of Florida considers Stuart Shapiro a felon, which makes him ineligible to hold municipal office in Illinois. According to Florida court records, Shapiro was convicted of felony grand theft in Florida and sentenced to five years' probation beginning in June 1986.

Shapiro, who was elected Wheeling trustee on April 7 but resigned before being sworn in - citing unforeseen work and family demands - denies he committed the crimes. He maintains his brother stole his identity and committed the crimes more than 20 years ago.

But neither the Florida Department of Law Enforcement nor the Florida court system can produce any evidence to back up his claim.

Shapiro also has been unable to provide documentation, except for a photocopy of a letter he showed the Daily Herald, purportedly on Florida Department of Law Enforcement stationery and dated March 13, 2002. The letter, which he allowed a Daily Herald reporter and editor to read, supported his claim that his brother, Michael, committed the crimes in his name.

He refused to furnish a copy of the letter to the newspaper, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it does not have any record of that letter on file.

But the department does have on file a letter to Shapiro, also dated March 13, 2002, that denies his request to have his record expunged.

Since Shapiro resigned before taking office, he likely won't be prosecuted.

In a similar case in Niles this past April, the Cook County state's attorney's office told newly elected Trustee George Alpogianis to resign or face charges after an investigation confirmed he was ineligible to hold office because of a prior felony conviction. Alpogianis resigned.

But a candidate who swears on nominating petitions he is eligible to hold elected office when he isn't risks perjury, said Ken Menzel, legal counsel for the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Before April's election, Shapiro, 53, already was a prominent, respected figure in Wheeling politics. An executive for a national health insurance agency, he served six years on Wheeling's plan commission and five years on the zoning board of appeals, and he ran unsuccessfully for Wheeling village trustee five other times.

Despite resigning before taking office, his campaign and subsequent election changed the course of the village board race and its eventual makeup.

Shapiro's objections to the nominating petitions of trustee candidate Charlie Vallas got him removed from the ballot. And in winning election to the village board he defeated Mike Horcher, a two-term Wheeling village trustee.

As well, his resignation allowed newly elected Village President Judy Abruscato to solidify her support base by appointing a second person to the board - the first being her own replacement as trustee, David Vogel, who was Abruscato's campaign manager.

To Shapiro's seat, she appointed longtime plan commissioner Raymond Lang.

The Florida case

Florida court records indicate Shapiro was convicted of felony grand theft in Florida and sentenced to five years' probation beginning in June 1986. He received early parole in March 1989 and later returned to Illinois, where he was born.

Shapiro says his middle brother, Michael Shapiro, who in the past 20 years has served several stints in prison for various crimes, assumed his identity to commit the crimes that led to Shapiro's felony conviction and probation record.

Over the last three months, the Daily Herald has obtained documents from Florida state authorities providing a detailed portrait of Stuart Shapiro's felony conviction.

Florida prosecuting and correctional agencies were unable to find any documents supporting Shapiro's story.

In a recent interview, Shapiro said he has been advised by his attorney not to comment further.

"My comment is that there is more to the story," he said.

According to Florida records, Stuart H. Shapiro was arrested in January 1986 by the Coral Springs Police Department in Broward County, Fla., and charged with committing grand theft, forgery, uttering forged instruments, obtaining property by false personation, unauthorized use of a driver's license and perjury in 1984 and 1985.

Shapiro pleaded guilty to grand theft and was sentenced to five years' probation, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.

Records show Stuart Shapiro assumed the identity of a younger, third brother to obtain a duplicate driver's license, which he used to apply for a roughly $5,000 loan from Household Finance Corp. Shapiro later defaulted on the loan, which led to his arrest, records show.

His younger brother signed a sworn affidavit that he never applied for the loan nor received any money from Stuart Shapiro, according to police reports.

Shapiro also withdrew $5,000 in checks in the name of two policy holders with his then-employer, Prudential Insurance Co. of America, for whom he worked as an agent, records show. He deposited the money into a bank account he shared with a former wife.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Shapiro was on probation in Florida, and then later in Illinois after he moved here in 1988.

Expungement denied

Meanwhile, his brother Michael Shapiro was serving time in a Florida state penitentiary on different charges.

Michael Shapiro, 49, who now lives in Margate, Fla., denies ever using Stuart Shapiro's identity to commit crimes.

He does admit to using their younger brother's name as an alias when he escaped from prison in December 1987 and was a fugitive for four months, Florida records show.

And while Michael Shapiro's criminal record shows he impersonated their younger brother, there is no mention in it of Stuart's claim that Michael impersonated him.

Michael Shapiro said he and Stuart have been estranged since Michael started getting into trouble.

"I haven't talked to my brother (Stuart) in 38 years," Michael Shapiro said. "I have my own problems because I was convicted of check (fraud) charges. I've been on probation. I went to prison three times. It's no secret. I've done my time."

Had Stuart Shapiro been a victim of identity theft, he could have cleared his name through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Compromised Identity Program, which started in 2003, spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said.

"We don't have any records to indicate that (Stuart Shapiro) submitted an application," she said.

Shapiro, however, said the program didn't exist at the time he contacted the department.

Meanwhile, he did apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 1999 to have his record expunged.

The form he filled out offers the applicant an opportunity to explain why he believes his record should be expunged; Shapiro left that part blank.

"(Shapiro) didn't qualify for it," Perezluha said. "It didn't meet the Florida statutes (criteria) to have the record expunged."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=309061">What Wheeling officials knew about Shapiro's record<span class="date"> [7/24/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/commisionerscanr2.pdf">Shaprio's request to have record expunged</a></li> <li><a href="/pdf/commisionerscanr1.pdf">Fla. denying the request</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>