Excerpts from patch.com:

Before former Plainfield Fire Chief Jon Stratton resigned in 2023, he “directed tens of thousands of dollars in district funding into a personal account,” the Plainfield Fire Protection District Board of Trustees (BOT) revealed Monday.

Stratton, who worked for the fire district for nearly three decades and was named chief in 2019, sold vehicles donated to the district at auction and deposited the proceeds into a private trust account in his name, Board President Robert Baish shared in a letter addressing “the Plainfield Community and All Those We Serve.”

The BOT learned of Stratton’s potential financial misconduct on May 23, 2023, according to the letter. Two days later, Stratton admitted the financial misconduct to trustees and wrote the district a check for $31,350, covering what was made at auction. The district didn’t cash the check and instead forwarded it to investigators.

After a special Board of Trustees meeting on May 30, Stratton tendered his resignation. Until Monday, it was unclear why Stratton suddenly stepped down from his role as chief in 2023.

The BOT notified the Plainfield Police Department, which referred the case to the Illinois State Police. In the recent letter, the BOT claimed the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office informed them last week it would not file any criminal charges against Stratton as long as he reimbursed the district $54,250 — but the state’s attorney’s office said the decision was based on the case not meeting the burden of proof.

Current Fire Chief Vito Bonomo said $54,250 was the total balance Stratton owed the district and that his predecessor paid the remaining $22,900.

“The Office determined that the facts contained within the investigation combined with a lack of appropriate business practices and protocols made it impossible to sustain our burden of proof as a criminal matter,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement Monday. “As a matter of ethics, an offer to pay restitution by a subject of an investigation never weighs in the decision to file criminal charges and did not affect our charging decision in this case.”

“The responsibility of this Office is not to prosecute based on allegations alone, but to pursue justice grounded in facts and the law,” State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow said in the statement. “In this case, while the claims were taken seriously and reviewed thoroughly, the alleged circumstances did not rise to the level of a criminal offense under the Constitution and laws of Illinois.”

thanks Dan

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, Fire Chief Vito Bonomo, former fire chief accused of financial misconduct, Plainfield Fire Chief Jon Stratton, Plainfield Fire Protection District, Plainfield FPD Board President Robert Baish