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Former Cook County Employee Sentenced to Four Years In Prison for Theft

A former manager with the Cook County Assessor’s Office who stole nearly $170,000 from a county Freedom of Information fund has been sentenced to four years in prison, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced today. 

Joyce Pierce, 52, of Chicago, pled guilty today to one count of theft in excess of $100,000 and was sentenced to four years in prison by Cook County Judge Clayton Crane. 

Pierce was charged by the State’s Attorney’s Office in August of 2007 for stealing the county funds over a four-year period when she worked as a manager in the Assessor’s Freedom of Information Department. 

According to prosecutors, Pierce used the money to pay for shopping trips to upscale department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. Pierce also admitted that she used the funds to pay a portion of her daughter’s college tuition.

“This case represents the type of brazen corruption in government that rightly angers all of us as taxpayers,” Alvarez said.  “This is a fitting sentence for a crime of this nature and we will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases when they occur.”

The investigation of Pierce began after the Assessor’s Office contacted the State’s Attorney when a routine audit uncovered irregularities in the Assessor’s fund which is made up of monies collected from Freedom of Information Act requests.

State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked the Assessor’s Office and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation.  Alvarez also thanked Assistant State’s Attorney John Carey of the Public Corruption and Financial Crimes Unit for his handling of the case.