Nearly $140K: Joliet Police Officer Devito's Retirement Payout

JOLIET, IL — In one of the largest taxpayer-funded payouts for a retiring city of Joliet employee, Joliet's Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Devito received nearly $140,000 this year for cashing out his unused sick leave bank, vacation days and comp time accruals.

A recent Joliet Patch Freedom of Information Act request analyzing the retirement payouts for several Joliet employees during the past several months revealed that Joliet paid Devito a total of $139,244 upon his retirement on May 19 after 28 years on the police force.

Devito's retirement payout from May appears to be the highest for any city employee during these past six years, but it's certainly not the largest for the city of Joliet.

Joliet Patch previously reported that former Joliet City Manager Tom Thanas got paid $168,229 for cashing out his unused vacation and accrued sick banks when he retired in December 2013. The payout to Thanas for his unused vacation bank gave him $120,427 and his accrued sick bank was worth another $47,802.

According to Joliet, Devito had a final salary of $117,266 when he retired in May. His retirement severance was more than $20,000 above his final salary with Joliet.

In addition to getting a lifetime Joliet police pension, Devito received the lump-sum payout of $139,244 based on his following accrued fringe benefits:

• $54,891 for his unused vacation nest egg.
• $65,805 for his comp time accruals.
• $18,548 for his unused sick banks.

Immediately upon retiring from Joliet police in May, Devito accepted another full-time job as field representative for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council.

"Although I'm retiring as a police officer, I'm going into a career that I'm really passionate about because I'm still defending policemen. I'll get a number of departments assigned to me, but I'm not representing Joliet," Devito told Joliet Patch during his May interview.

At the time of his retirement, Devito had spent 18 years on Joliet police's labor council and 16 years as Fraternal Order of Police president.

"I kind of feel my biggest contribution at the police department was my position in labor, between discipline and contracts. I think we've made huge leaps in my 18 years as a labor group president," Devito told Joliet Patch during his May interview.

Joliet Police Officer Tony Lakota has taken over as the new FOP Lodge president.

Patch found that Devito's retirement severance was more than twice as much as the payout for his counterpart, Sgt. Patrick Cardwell, who retired two months later, in July.

Cardwell had served as president of the Joliet Police Supervisors Association in recent years.

Cardwell's retirement payout totaled $64,328, payroll records reflect. He was paid $18,743 for his unused vacation, $18,475 for his comp time accruals and $27,110 for his unused sick banks.

In December, Joliet Patch reported the Joliet Police Supervisors Association came out with a unanimous endorsement for Terry D'Arcy to become the next mayor of Joliet. The non-partisan municipal election is April 4. In addition to gaining the backing of Joliet police's sergeants and lieutenants, two current deputy police chiefs, Sherrie Blackburn and Chris Botzum, have each donated $250 to D'Arcy's mayoral campaign.

On the other hand, the Citizens for O'Dekirk committee shows it received $600 on Sept. 28 from the Joliet Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, the union led by Devito for years.

The FOP labor council represents Joliet's rank-and-file officers, known as the blue shirts. During Devito's last full year as union president, the Joliet Police FOP Labor Council donated $1,200 to Citizens for O'Dekirk, on July 15, 2021, the Illinois Sunshine campaign database shows.

Since 2017, Joliet Patch has tracked retirement payouts for city of Joliet employees because rising salaries and fringe benefits are becoming an ever-increasing component of the city's operating budget. As a result, Joliet has had to cut back spending in services, such as building new sidewalks, street repairs and tearing down dilapidated houses and buildings.

According to Patch's past city spending articles, the following list contains some of the top retirement payouts made to Joliet employees —in addition to their pension checks:

• $168,229, Joliet City Manager Tom Thanas, retired in 2013.
• $139,244, Joliet Police Officer Mike Devito, retired in 2022.
• $131,498, Joliet Deputy Chief Tab Jensen, retired in 2018, under Chief Brian Benton.
• $130,647, Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton, retired in 2018, now employed as Mokena police chief.
• $129,100, Joliet Police Capt. Rich Demick, retired in 2020.
• $121,114, Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, retired in 2021.
• $119,247 Joliet Police Deputy Chief John Perona, retired in 2019, under Chief Al Roechner.
• $118,182, Joliet Police Deputy Chief Edgar Gregory, retired in 2018, under Benton.
• $116,360, Joliet Police Deputy Chief Brian Dupois, retired in 2018, under Benton.
• $104,695, Joliet Police Officer Michael Fosen, retired in 2021.

• $104,346, Joliet Police Officer Jeff Kneller, retired in 2019.
• $104,155, Joliet Director of Building and Inspection Services Dave Mackley, retired in 2017.
• $102,742, Joliet Police evidence technician Jeff Fornoff, retired in 2020.
• $99,666, Joliet City Manager John Mezera, retired in 2008.
• $96,629, Director of Public Utilities Jim Eggen, retired in 2018.
• $96,465, Joliet Fire Chief Joe Formhals, retired in 2019.
• $94,855, Joliet Corporation Counsel Jeff Plyman, retired in 2014.

Related Joliet Patch public spending coverage of City Hall:

Joliet's Mackley Due $104,155 For Unused Sick, Vacation Nest Egg

Joliet's Jim Eggen Will Get $97K For Unused Vacation, Sick Days

Joliet Spent $2M For Retiree Payouts In 2020: Patch Analysis

Eye-Popping Retirement Buyout For Deputy Police Chief Tab Jensen