Editor's note: Your ProbateShark is so disgusted by the legal system give these criminals whether they be city officials or probate court judges a pass. A more appropriate punishment would be having these officials drink tainted water for 2 years. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
No prison for ex-Crestwood officials in toxic well scheme
(Tribune illustration)
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Two former Crestwood officials today avoided going to prison for their roles in a money-saving scheme that exposed residents to polluted water for more than two decades. U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall sentenced Theresa Neubauer, the south suburb’s former police chief and water clerk, to two years of probation for lying in official documents and concealing the use of a community well tainted with cancer-causing chemicals. The sentence includes 200 hours of community service.
Frank Scaccia, the village’s former certified water operator, was sentenced to two years of probation for his involvement in the plot, including six months of home detention.
Though Gottschall stopped short of handing down prison terms as requested by federal prosecutors, the judge’s action ensured that at least two public officials were held accountable for crimes first uncovered by a 2009 Tribune investigation.
The U.S. Attorney's office had asked for a prison sentence of up to 21 months for Neubauer and 27 months for Scaccia.
By secretly drawing water from their contaminated well, Crestwood officials saved $380,000 a year that otherwise would have been spent fixing a leaky water system, according to court documents. They also avoided routine testing that would have alerted authorities to toxic chemicals in the village's drinking water.
Neubauer and Scaccia steadfastly maintained they were following the orders of former Mayor Chester Stranczek, who led the village for nearly 40 years and often boasted that he ran it like a business. Stranczek was not charged in the case but faces ongoing civil lawsuits.
Attorneys defending Stranczek in those cases have hired experts who say the former mayor, who stepped down in 2007, has "mild to moderate" dementia caused by Parkinson's disease and is not fit to stand trial.
In court this afternoon, Gottschall described Stranczek as the “evil genius” behind a scheme that “fooled the public into thinking he was a fiscal wizard when in fact he was a charlatan.”
“It was about saving money,” she said. “It also was perverting democracy to get somebody elected over and over and over again.”
At Neubauer’s trial, prosecutors focused their arguments on false statements in mandatory public reports that track municipal water use and assure residents that their drinking water is safe.
Neubauer was convicted April 29 on multiple counts. Scaccia had pleaded guilty earlier that month to a single count of lying to environmental regulators.
Before the sentencing, prosecutors noted in a memorandum that state health officials had concluded that water from the contaminated well could have contributed to significantly elevated cancer rates in Crestwood.
“The uncertainty about what they truly consumed during that period continues to haunt many Crestwood residents, whose questions about their drinking water cannot ever be answered fully,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman wrote in the court filing.
mhawthorne@tribune.com
Twitter @scribeguy
Frank Scaccia, the village’s former certified water operator, was sentenced to two years of probation for his involvement in the plot, including six months of home detention.
Though Gottschall stopped short of handing down prison terms as requested by federal prosecutors, the judge’s action ensured that at least two public officials were held accountable for crimes first uncovered by a 2009 Tribune investigation.
The U.S. Attorney's office had asked for a prison sentence of up to 21 months for Neubauer and 27 months for Scaccia.
By secretly drawing water from their contaminated well, Crestwood officials saved $380,000 a year that otherwise would have been spent fixing a leaky water system, according to court documents. They also avoided routine testing that would have alerted authorities to toxic chemicals in the village's drinking water.
Neubauer and Scaccia steadfastly maintained they were following the orders of former Mayor Chester Stranczek, who led the village for nearly 40 years and often boasted that he ran it like a business. Stranczek was not charged in the case but faces ongoing civil lawsuits.
Attorneys defending Stranczek in those cases have hired experts who say the former mayor, who stepped down in 2007, has "mild to moderate" dementia caused by Parkinson's disease and is not fit to stand trial.
In court this afternoon, Gottschall described Stranczek as the “evil genius” behind a scheme that “fooled the public into thinking he was a fiscal wizard when in fact he was a charlatan.”
“It was about saving money,” she said. “It also was perverting democracy to get somebody elected over and over and over again.”
At Neubauer’s trial, prosecutors focused their arguments on false statements in mandatory public reports that track municipal water use and assure residents that their drinking water is safe.
Neubauer was convicted April 29 on multiple counts. Scaccia had pleaded guilty earlier that month to a single count of lying to environmental regulators.
Before the sentencing, prosecutors noted in a memorandum that state health officials had concluded that water from the contaminated well could have contributed to significantly elevated cancer rates in Crestwood.
“The uncertainty about what they truly consumed during that period continues to haunt many Crestwood residents, whose questions about their drinking water cannot ever be answered fully,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman wrote in the court filing.
mhawthorne@tribune.com
Twitter @scribeguy
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