The widow of the Illinois cop who killed himself last year has been indicted of money fraud. According to reports, Joe Gliniewicz's widow was embezzling money from a police charity.
In a report by NBC News, Melodie Gliniewicz was indicted on Wednesday on charges of embezzling from a police charity and money laundering. The 51-year-old widow could possibly face around seven years of imprisonment if proven guilty. The charges include four counts of disbursing charitable funds for personal benefit and two counts of money laundering, all of which are felonies.
Melodie remains in custody at the Lake County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Accordingly, Melodie's husband, a Fox Lake police lieutenant, took his life last September after allegations of misconduct against him have been reported. The suicide was even made to look like a "heroic death" while in the line of duty. His death also sparked a large-scale manhunt as officials tried to look for the "suspect" in Joe's death.
Melodie and her son then was under scrutiny by officials after it has been found out that Joe is alleged of stealing and laundering money from the Police Explorer post, a town fund meant for aspiring police officers, he ran for years. He reportedly used the money for personal purchases such as paying his memberships in different adult websites. He also was alleged of being drunk on the job and sexually harassing his female co-workers.
An investigation was concluded last November which determined that the officer's death was "carefully staged". This is reportedly because he feared that authorities were close to busting him for his crimes, New York Daily News reported.
The widow is being held as a fiduciary role in the case as she is an adviser with the Police Explorer post. The charity funds were reportedly used to pay for a trip to Hawaii, visits in Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks as well as payment for around 400 restaurant bills, CBS News reported.
The attorneys of Melodie said in a statement, "Melodie is a victim of her husband's secret actions and looks forward to her day in court to show the world her innocence." Melodie is also said to be devastated as she has been very cooperative with the officials and the charges were unexpected.
Her court appearance is set on February 10.
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