Summary

On October 2, 2014, Timothy J. Veit, former police commander, Des Plaines Police Department, Des Plaines, Illinois, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Chicago, Illinois, to 6 months incarceration and 12 months probation. Veit was also ordered to pay $34,448 in restitution and perform 200 hours of community service. Veit previously pleaded guilty to defrauding a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded program.

As the project director, Veit was responsible for certifying departmental compliance with NHTSA's participation requirements. Our investigation determined that from 2009 through 2012, Veit made false statements in reports that concealed the police department's failure to meet the requirements of federally funded impaired driving enforcement campaigns. Veit inflated Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests. He reported that 152 DUI arrests were made from 2009 through 2012, when in fact only 30 arrests were made. This inflation resulted in the department receiving approximately $183,984 in federal reimbursement for overtime compensation. This compensation was used to pay numerous police officers including Veit. Because of his false statements, Veit personally received about $31,915 in overtime payments.