Head of DuPage non-profit that honors military is accused of faking records

May 03--A West Chicago man has been charged with taking cash in exchange for falsifying records of people who were performing court-ordered community service at an organization that honors deceased members of the military, officials said.

Russell Phillip, 46, was charged last week in DuPage County with one count of wire fraud after he allegedly accepted $300 from an undercover agent posing as someone who had been sentenced to serve 100 hours of community service, prosecutors said.

According to authorities, Phillip agreed to submit a letter to the DuPage probation department falsely attesting that the agent had completed the community service hours.

"For the second time in as many weeks my office has charged an individual with attempting to falsify the completion of court-ordered community service," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. "As I said in that case, court orders are not optional."

South Elgin Village Trustee Robert Sauceda was charged in late April with fraud after he falsely reported to the DuPage County probation department that a man convicted of DUI had performed 41 hours of community service for the village, prosecutors allege.

Authorities say Phillip owned and operated a not-for-profit organization called Flowers for Heroes of Downers Grove, which the probation department had authorized as a community service provider. According to the group's Facebook page and Phillip's LinkedIn page, Flowers for Heroes accepts donations to place bouquets on headstones at national cemeteries and supports Gold Star families.

In January, prosecutors alleged, a woman who had been ordered to perform 100 hours of community service as part of a court sentence said Phillip had proposed that she pay him $300, and in return, he would certify to probation officials that the woman had completed her hours.

The woman reported the proposal to authorities, who initiated the undercover investigation. Phillip accepted $300 from the undercover officer and said he would report that the officer had completed 71 hours of service, with a promise to report another 29 hours completed over the following three weeks.

Phillip, authorities said, admitted committing the same fraud with 10 other people.