Former cop avoids prison

A former Chicago police officer convicted of bilking a 90-year-old man out of a $500,000 home and $400,000 in cash and investments will not go to prison.

Donald Owsley was sentenced Friday to three years of probation and fined $36,000 for persuading Theodore Hoellen in 2001 to sign over his Chicago home. Hoellen also gave Owsley control over $400,000 in bank accounts and a death benefit.

The 63-year-old Owsley was found guilty in April of financial exploitation of the elderly and forgery.

In sparing Owsley a prison term, Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy Joyce said he didn’t believe the convicted man being a police officer was “a significant aggravating factor” in the case.

During Owsley’s trial, defense attorney Jed Stone contended his client and Hoellen had a special father-son relationship.