Former East St. Louis police officer who stole from city gets probation
NOTE: An earlier version of this story stated that Fennoy collected more than $200,000 in overtime pay, which is consistent with the federal complaint against him. He was sentenced, however, only on his admission the overtime pay that came from a $34,000 federal program grant. The story has been corrected.
A former member of the East St. Louis Police Department who collected overtime pay for hours he didn’t work was sentenced to three years probation in a federal court.
Mario Fennoy, a former police sergeant, was ordered by Chief U..S. District Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengal, to serve 100 hours of community service and pay back nearly $32,000 in overtime in confessed to fabricating.
A probation officer will determine the type of service Fennoy must complete.
A 21-year veteran of the East St. Louis Police Department, Fennoy pleaded guilty to taking money from a city that receives federal funding from roughly April 2017 through March 2018. Some of that pay came through a $34,000 federal program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Marshals Service.
According to an original complaint, federal prosecutors believe Fennoy collected at least $130,000 through 50 requests that falsely claimed more than 200 hours of overtime. During that period, Fennoy’s salary jumped from $69,382 to more than $200,000.
The complaint also accused Fennoy, 49, of falsely clearing calls and reporting that he had responded to dispatches when, in fact, he never left the secondary residence he maintained in East St. Louis.
“Mario has accepted responsibility for his actions,” Attorney Talmage Newton said during the plea hearing last November. “He has spent his life dedicated to public service to his country and community, first with the United States Army, and for the last 24 years to the city of East St. Louis.
“Mario regrets this betrayal of the public trust. He apologizes to the East St. Louis citizens and police department for his conduct.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 5:22 PM.
