A Cook County judge Wednesday reduced the sentence of a former Chicago Police sergeant from 12 to eight years in prison for stealing $1.1 million from his union.
Judge Diane Cannon resentenced John Pallohusky, 57, after his attorneys told her he could pay back $465,000 to the Chicago Police Sergeants Association, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Pallohusky, who appeared in court wearing a prison uniform, did not comment at the brief hearing.
Pallohusky pleaded guilty in April 2012 to stealing the money from the organization he headed for years.
Prosecutors said Pallohusky duped the 1,200 sergeants who entrusted him with their money and used their hard-earned dues to pay for steak dinners, gambling sprees and a down payment on a Northwest Side home.
Months after he was ordered behind bars, his attorneys filed a motion to reconsider his sentence.
When Pallohusky was arrested for the crime in 2009, he was suspended without pay and relieved of his police powers.
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He resigned the day after he pleaded guilty.
Last year, union officer Paul Bilotta told the Sun-Times the money Pallohusky stole “crippled” the union and nearly drove it into bankruptcy.
“He hurt his friends who trusted him, and he hurt his co-workers who believed in him... We have begun putting the pieces back together again. We are not whole. We will not be whole for a very long time,” Bilotta said at the time.
