Jan. 20--A former DuPage Forest Preserve District technology manager was sentenced to 180 days in jail Tuesday for failing to disclose his outside business relationship with a government contractor.
David Tepper, 52, of River Forest, was also ordered to pay $83,000 in fines. The amount corresponded to commissions Tepper earned over several years while acting as an agent for a telecommunication company that, with his aid, landed a forest preserve contract.
DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan said he felt it important that Tepper serve some jail time to signal that actions like his cannot go unpunished.
"Public corruption can sneak into DuPage County if we are not vigilant," Brennan said. The judge also ordered Tepper to serve 24 months on probation.
Tepper was found guilty in a fall bench trial of official misconduct and unlawful participation in a government contract. His former boss, Mark McDonald, is awaiting trial on similar charges. A third man, a private contractor accused of providing kickbacks in return for a forest preserve contract, was found not guilty of the charges.
Assistant State's Attorney Ken Tatarelis asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence -- five years in prison -- and to levy a $237,000 fine.
"We have to take away the incentive to commit these offenses," Tatarelis said, who added that public corruption is "rampant" in Illinois.
But the judge said the maximum prison sentence was too harsh for Tepper, who had no previous criminal history. Brennan also noted the district did not suffer any financial loss as a result of the telecom contract Tepper helped secure.
Tepper's attorney Terry Ekl argued for a sentence of probation only, saying Tepper, at worst, failed to disclose his outside relationship with the telecom company.
"So that was his mistake -- that's what he did wrong," Ekl said.
Ekl said he planned to appeal the conviction, arguing as he did at trial that prosecutors failed to prove that Tepper's actions showed "an intent to defraud," which is an element of the illegal participation statute.
He asked the judge to allow Tepper to remain on bond while the case is on appeal, but Brennan declined. The judge, however, did give Tepper a month to get his affairs in order before turning himself in. Tepper will receive day-for-day credit, which means he will likely serve 90 days of the 180-day sentence.
Tepper had faced a more than 140-count felony indictment, but the judge had dismissed about half of the charges at the midpoint of his trial. Brennan acquitted Tepper on about 40 other counts but found him guilty of 29 felony counts of unlawful participation and one count of official misconduct.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
