Former SW Illinois cop sentenced for falsifying time cards

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A former southwestern Illinois police officer has been sentenced to five months in federal prison after pleading guilty to collecting about $60,000 in fraudulent pay by his falsifying time cards.

A federal judge also ordered Ricky Perry, 51, on Wednesday to repay the money and serve five months of supervised release after he's released from prison, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

The former Alorton police officer had pleaded guilty last September to obtaining funds from Alorton by fraud by falsifying time cards between May 2018 and April of 2021. Perry, who had also previously been an East St. Louis police officer, admitted receiving $60,346.25 for his false time cards.

Last year, FBI agents served a federal search warrant at Alorton City Hall and removed boxes of personal records. According to court records, agents compared Perry's time cards with GPS records on the patrol cars he used after clocking in for duty.

Investigators identified about 4,000 hours of conflicting time where Perry traveled outside the Alorton jurisdiction, usually to go to his home in East St. Louis.

According to court records, he parked his patrol car outside his house and sometimes ignored calls from dispatchers, even if he was the only officer on duty.

Embezzling money from a unit of government that receives federal funds can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.