Widow of Fox Lake's Gliniewicz could go to trial in June

The widow of disgraced Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz could go to trial this summer on financial charges.

Melodie Gliniewicz, 51, of Antioch was in Lake County circuit court Friday before Judge Victoria Rossetti. It was Gliniewicz's first court appearance since Feb. 3, when she pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of disbursing charitable funds without authority for personal benefit or use and two counts of money laundering.

Gliniewicz faces up to 7 years in prison if found guilty.

She stood silent as Rossetti, her defense attorney and Assistant State's Attorney Kenneth LaRue went through paperwork and set a schedule for the case.

Most important, a trial date was set for June 27. A case management conference was set for April 6.

The charges against Gliniewicz stem from an investigation that began in November into the finances surrounding Fox Lake Law Enforcement Explorer Post 300.

That inquiry followed the death of Gliniewicz's husband, who staged his suicide as a murder in September as he feared his own thefts from the Explorer club were about to be uncovered.

Joe Gliniewicz over saw the Explorers for years.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force investigators found inconsistencies in financial documents involving Joe Gliniewicz while investigating his death.

The Explorers fund was used to pay for a trip to Hawaii, many coffee shop purchases, tickets for the Fox Lake Theatre, and more than 400 restaurant charges, authorities have said.