Six years after Ford Heights Mayor Charles Griffin was charged for stealing nearly $150,000 from the village for personal use, a trial resumed this week with testimony from Griffin’s son, a past and current village clerk, and Griffin himself.
Cook County Judge James Obbish is hearing the case and said he will rule Monday on corruption charges against Griffin, who was mayor of the town of 1,750 residents from 2009 to 2017, and elected again in 2021. Prosecutors said secret accounts holding $147,000 in public funds were discovered and reported to authorities by former Mayor Annie Coulter’s office shortly after she took office in 2017.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that Griffin, after leaving office, used funds from the secret accounts to purchase a Ford Explorer, which he later gave to his son, who sold the vehicle for $12,000. Attorneys also said there were purchases at retailers such as Walmart and Sam’s Club that benefited Griffin himself or those close to him, and said Griffin used public funds to pay for campaign signs when he was running for reelection.
Griffin testified he “accidentally” used the village credit card for the campaign signs and reimbursed the purchase with cash. When asked if he made the Illinois State Board of Elections aware of the mistaken purchase, he said, “Why should I?”
Griffin was taken to jail in August 2018 and released shortly after on bond. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx released a news release at the time condemning “theft by a person in a position of public trust,” saying it “will not be tolerated.”
“Soon after Griffin left office, the village discovered irregular activity in accounts at BMO Harris Bank under the village’s name that did not appear to have been previously disclosed to the village trustees and or other village officials,” Foxx said in the release.
Two funds listed Griffin’s personal address, authorities said. One of the accounts contained deposits from the state treasurer’s office that represented the village’s share of taxes on video gaming, the state’s attorney alleged.
“Significant portions of the funds withdrawn from this account were used for Griffin’s personal expenses,” the office said in 2018, adding debit card transactions include spending at Walmart, Home Depot, Menards, L.A. Fitness and various restaurants.
One charge against Griffin, misappropriation of financial institution funds was dismissed by prosecutors before the trial, according to court records. Foxx’s office declined to comment on the dropped charge as well as the trial at large, citing pending litigation.
Griffin’s supporters have previously called the embezzlement allegations part of a political ploy. Witnesses called by Griffin’s attorneys Monday, including Griffin’s son and Ford Heights Public Works supervisor Leland Hooks, defended certain spending as benefiting village residents.
Hooks testified that as a contractor for the village’s Public Works Department, he had access to a village debit card which he used to make purchases such as a L.A. Fitness membership he said was provided to employees, a PlayStation device for a children’s event, headphones for driving and meals for village staff.
However, in the state’s closing arguments, prosecutors said many of these expenditures were not approved by the Village Board, or were approved illegally in meetings closed to the public.
“It is a violation of the Illinois Constitution that anybody uses public funds for personal purposes,” Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Kiefer said.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
