Dolton mayor’s top aide pleads not guilty to bankruptcy fraud, village faces another lawsuit
DOLTON, Ill. — Dolton Mayor Tiffany Heynard’s top aide, Keith Freeman, pleaded not guilty to bankruptcy charges Wednesday as he’s named in another lawsuit against the embattled mayor.
Freeman is a senior administrator for both the Village of Dolton and Thorton Township.
Tiffany Henyard’s admin spent $100K on travel
“I think that many practitioners in this building would be surprised to see the level of attention and press being paid to a bankruptcy indictment,” attorney Josh Herman said.
He is accused of hiding his Dolton income in bankruptcy proceedings and underreporting his income by $95,000 last year.
“We’ve had a couple of questions directed to me about whether this indictment is the government trying to squeeze Mr. Freeman into cooperation and I think that question is a better question for the government,” Herman said. “The record will show overall that Mr. Freeman has been a trusted public steward.”
Freeman’s appearance in federal court comes just a day after he was sued alongside Heynard by a Dolton property owner who says he was unjustly denied a business license.
“When Keith Freeman told me I was going to get all my permits and put me in a position to start working on my property; but then when I met with him again, he said: ‘Who are you? Do I know you?’” Tyrone Isom said.
Tiffany Henyard’s admin spent $100K on travel
Isom tried to open a barber shop and then a pigmentation studio in a space, but he says the building inspector told him Heynard blocked the project.
“She said Tiffany Heynard did not want nobody to get these properties because she wanted the land,” Isom said. “That was there in a nutshell.”
He ended up selling the building to stay financially afloat.
“You have people who are willing to put their money where their mouth is,” his attorney, Gregory Kulis, said. “Put in their sweat and hard labor into a business, all within the parameters of the law, trying to bring business into Dolton and for whatever reason, the mayor doesn’t want. As Tyrone told you, he was told the nope, the mayor doesn’t want it.”
Isom isn’t the first.
WGN Investigates reported on the thwarted plans to redevelop a shopping center anchored by a ministry-focused food pantry. The owner hoped to add after-school programs and a thrift store but she said she was told it couldn’t move forward without Heynard’s approval.
Henyard’s spokesperson hasn’t responded to WGN’s request for comment on the lawsuit, but last month Henyard once again complained she is the victim of critics intent on tearing down the first Black, female mayor of Dolton.
“I’m basically fighting against the devil,” Henyard said. “The evil spirit. I’m the good spirit. I never seen no one try to tear down people this much.”
Last Friday, the FBI visited Dolton Village Hall to serve two subpoenas, one for employment records for a dozen and the other specifically focused on Keith Freeman.
FBI serves subpoenas at Dolton Village Hall
“We’re ready to defend with anything we have, whatever comes Mr. Freeman’s way,” Herman said.
Freeman’s attorney said he has no plans to step down from his jobs in Dolton and Thorton Township.
He’s due back in court on June 5.
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