City of Joliet billed $157,280 to fight federal conspiracy lawsuit from defeated mayor

The City of Joliet has been billed at least $157,280 as a result of a now-dismissed lawsuit from a former mayor who claims he was the victim of a conspiracy that led to his election loss.

The lawsuit filed by former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk was thrown out of federal court earlier this year. But the city is expected to continue to endure further legal costs because O’Dekirk has moved his case to the Will County courts.

O’Dekirk was sued three times during his time as mayor. Two of those cases resulted in settlements against the city totaling $143,000.

In 2023, Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy defeated O’Dekirk in a landslide victory.

Following O’Dekirk’s defeat, he filed a federal lawsuit that claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy in 2020 by a “cabal” of six people (including a former police chief) who plotted to have him charged with a crime and lose the election.

The case lasted about a year and half before it was dismissed on legal grounds.

The City of Joliet has been billed at least $157,280 from three law firms representing five of the seven defendants in O’Dekirk’s case, according to records released by the city in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Those five defendants are retired Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, his wife Nancy Griparis, retired Joliet Deputy Police Chief Marc Reid, Joliet City Council member Pat Mudron and the city of Joliet.

The use of the law firms “avoids any conflict of interest” as mandated by Illinois law, according to Todd Lenzie, the city’s interim corporation counsel.

Local public entities are required to protect employees or former employees for actions within the “scope of their employment,” according to Lenzie. The city is responsible for covering their legal fees, he said.

The city is “covering the costs of these legal services,” Lenzie said.

As of last week, the city had an outstanding invoice of $1,170 from one law firm and had not yet received invoices from another law firm for two months of legal work this year, Lenzie said.

The city’s attorneys are seeking to recover the money they lost in their successful fight in federal court against O’Dekirk’s lawsuit.

The attorneys filed a March 13 motion for sanctions that claims O’Dekirk’s lawsuit was frivolous and aimed to “hijack the busy federal courts” to harass the defendants.

A federal judge has not yet ruled on that motion.

Attorneys for two other defendants are also seeking to win back the money lost to O’Dekirk’s lawsuit case.

Those two other defendants are former Joliet City Council member Jim McFarland and Shaw Media executive editor Joseph Hosey.

The city is not covering their legal fees.

Itasca law firm Hervas, Condon and Bersani is representing the city. Chicago law firm Amundsen Davis is representing Roechner and his wife.

Another Chicago law firm, Epstein, Becker and Green, is representing Reid and Mudron.

The city’s law firm has billed the city $21,663 for about 98 hours of legal work.

The law firm for Roechner and his wife has billed the city $63,222 for about 133 hours of legal work.

The law firm for Reid and Mudron have billed the city $72,395 for about 185 hours of legal work.

Those law firms have also been billing the city for their legal work in defending the city, Roechner and Reid in a Will County lawsuit filed against them by former Joliet City Council member Don “Duck” Dickinson.

Attorneys for Roechner and Reid have denied they threatened or pressured Dickinson into filing a false police report against O’Dekirk.

About a month before the 2023 mayoral election, the city publicly released a report about the alleged conspiracy against O’Dekirk. The report was issued by Sean Connolly, a former inspector general who served under O’Dekirk.

Connolly’s report recommended charges against Roechner and Reid. The report also served as the basis for O’Dekirk’s federal lawsuit.

Connolly’s report recommended Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s Office prosecute Roechner and Reid. His report was also sent to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

As of Monday, Will County and federal court records online do not show charges against Roechner or Reid.

When contacted about Connolly’s report, Raoul’s spokeswoman April McLaren said, “We’ll let you know if we have comment.”

Joseph Fitzpatrick, U.S. Attorney spokesman, said their office does not “confirm or deny the existence of investigations, so we will decline to answer.”