Nov 24, 2009 4:19 pm US/Central
Bail Raised For Police Sergeant Charged With Theft
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
A Cook County Judge Tuesday afternoon raised the bail for a Chicago Police sergeant charged with skimming money from the
Chicago Police Sergeants' Association from $250,000 to $350,000 after prosecutors indicated he may have taken more cash than they initially believed.
When Sgt. John Pallohusky was charged with theft and money laundering last week, authorities said
Pallohusky had taken $600,000 from the association and spent it on a home, online stock trading, gambling trips, hotels and steak dinners.
But additional investigation over the weekend revealed he might have actually taken more than $1 million, Assistant State's Attorney Lynn McCarthy told Judge Donald Panarese today.
McCarthy said authorities combed through 38 large bags of financial records and discovered that Pallohusky had 65 different bank accounts.
Pallohusky was the president of the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association. Pallohusky's wife, Mary O'Toole, is treasurer of the association. She has not been charged with wrongdoing
McCarthy had asked Panarese to set a $1 million cash bail, describing Pallohusky, 53, as a flight risk.
Once released, there is a likelihood Pallohusky "would destroy evidence and dissipate assets," McCarthy said, pointing to the $90,000 Pallohusky lost within a nine-day period gambling in Las Vegas. Authorities are in process of seizing Pallohusky's bank accounts, prosecutors said.
McCarthy today also argued that the $35,000 Pallohusky's brother-in-law and a retired lawyer planned to post as bond on Pallohusky's behalf could be repaid with "illegitimate funds."
James O'Toole testified he planned to use $25,000 from the profit he made when he and his wife sold his Mokena home. Paul Zelznick, who became "close friends" with Pallohusky after representing him in a case in 1988, planned to pick up the remaining $10,000.
"There's nothing illegal about that," Pallohusky's attorney, Richard Beuke, said about the source of his client's bond money. "There's nothing surreptitious about that."
Panarese ruled that the money used for Pallohusky's bond came from a legal source.
Pallohusky insists he did not misappropriate any money, Beuke said.
After the hearing, Beuke said he was "absolutely confident" prosecutors were overreaching their claims.
Pallohusky will appear for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 18.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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