Cook sentenced to probation, house arrest

CHICAGO — Channahon Village President Joe Cook was not sentenced to any jail time, but received two years probation, including 6 months of home confinement, after pleading guilty in October to charges of not paying his taxes.

In addition to the two years probation, Cook was ordered to pay $14,752 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Randall Samborn, spokesperson for the Northern District of the U.S. State's Attorney's Office. He was not fined.

Cook's sentencing was at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Chicago.

According to published reports, while sentencing, the judge took into consideration Cook's family responsibilities, which include taking care of his father who has throat cancer, his mother who is in a wheelchair and his brother who has Down Syndrome.

For his house arrest, Cook will have an electronic monitoring device and will be allowed to leave for "work and various appointments," Samborn said. His probation begins immediately.

Attempts to contact Cook were unsuccessful.

Joe Pena, now Channahon's official full-time village administrator and director of public safety, said Cook can continue as village president because Cook's charges were misdemeanors.

"There is no requirement from the village to do anything more from this point," Pena said. "It's about time we start moving forward. With this being behind him and the village, we can begin to move forward."

MIXED REACTION

Village Trustee Judie Nash did not want to comment too much on the sentencing, but did say she's heard feelings on both sides of the whole situation.

"I've heard mixed things from the constituents," Nash said. "A lot support him and a lot think it's difficult for him to continue to serve given the charges and his guilty plea."

The citizens pay their taxes, she said, and have an expectation for their village leader to do so, too.

"I certainly don't approve," Nash said. "We all have to pay what we owe. He has to serve his own conscience, I can't do that for him."

THE CHARGES

In October, Cook pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of personal and corporate income tax evasion. Both counts are misdemeanors, and stem from a six-count criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, in late August.

Cook was charged in the six-count information with failure to file federal income tax returns on earnings of $69,700 in 2005; $82,500 in 2006; $60,300 in 2007; and $39,000 in 2008.

He was also charged with failure to file federal corporate tax returns for 2007 and 2008 on Phase One Solutions Inc., a consulting company he incorporated in December 2006.

The taxed owed were $14,752. Of that, $4,465 is individual income tax and $10,287 is corporate income tax.

Cook’s personal income for the years named was earned as Channahon village president, an employee of the Will County Engineering Department and as project manager or consultant for private businesses.