Oak Forest Woman Accused of Embezzling Set to Enter Guilty Plea

An Oak Forest woman woman accused, along with her husband, of embezzling $352,000 from a south suburban fire protection district is set to enter a guilty plea later this month.

Michelle Sopko, 46, appeared briefly in court Tuesday, and a plea date was set for March 16. She will be sentenced the same day, Daily Southtown reports.

Sopko is charged with misconduct and forgery, after it was discovered she funneled $352,000 from Palos Heights Fire Protection District’s payroll and accounts payable system into the couple’s bank account over the course of 30 months. Prosecutors allege she manned a ghost payroll system through which the district paid two fictional employees—and herself for overtime she didn’t actually work, according to the report. She then obscured the theft with false financial reports, prosecutors allege.

She was fired from her job as a part-time bookkeeper/administrative assistant with the fire district in December 2012. She and her husband Charles Sopko, Oak Forest’s former deputy fire chief, were arrested in December 2013. Sopko, who sat on the Arbor Park District 145 Board of Education, resigned shortly after her arrest.

Charles Sopko faces charges of felony theft, conducting a financial criminal enterprise and forgery. He was removed from his role as deputy chief, but still holds the rank of lieutenant. Aldermen last summer voted to reinstate his pay at that level. He will appear before Cook County Judge John Hynes on March 10.

The terms of Michelle Sopko’s plea deal will not be revealed until the plea is entered. It’s unclear if she will be required to repay the funds.

In separate legal action, the fire protection district sued Sopko and its former auditors to attempt to recover the funds.

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