Melodie Gliniewicz Could Still Get Disgraced Cop's Pension, Expert Says

Melodie Gliniewicz, the widow of disgraced Fox Lake Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, could still receive her late-husband’s pension even though she was indicted this past week on money laundering charges, the Northwest Herald reports. She has not yet submitted an application for the pension but a police pension expert told the Northwest Herald its unclear at this point if her indictment would prevent her from receiving the pension.

“This is such an unusual case, and it has such unusual dynamics that this is going to be a whole new thing,” Illinois Public Pension Fund Association President James McNamee told the newspaper. “It’s interesting and stressful at the same time because it is so different. Everything was a fraud.”

Melodie Gliniewicz, 51, was indicted this past week in Lake County on charges of disbursing charitable funds without authority and money laundering. Melodie Gliniewicz held a “fiduciary role as an adult advisor with the Fox Lake Police Explorer Post,” which was run by her late husband, according to the news release. Police said Lt. Gliniewicz staged his own murder after embezzling funds from the Explorer program for years. He was found shot dead in Fox Lake on Sept. 1.

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Under Illinois law, no pension benefits are given to the family members of police officers convicted of a felony related to their police work but that does not cover Gliniewicz since allegations of his wrongdoings surfaced following his death, the Lake County News Sun reports. McNamee told the newspaper he can not recall a case where a pension board was asked to determine whether criminal wrongdoings that came up following an officer’s death were reason to deny a pension let alone a case where the cop’s beneficiary is also possibly tied to the wrongdoings.

“I think the best thing they can do is sit back and see what happens. If they do get an application, they’ll rule on it with what they have,” McNamee told the Lake County News Sun “They’ve got their hands full.”

• For more, visit the Lake County News Sun or the Northwest Herald.