Former security guard sentenced for city ticket, fine scam

A former city employee pleaded guilty Monday to stealing government property while working as a security guard at the Department of Revenue.

Christopher Williams, 28, was charged last year with scamming people who needed to pay tickets and fines out of their money while working at the department between September and October 2013, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Williams pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft of government property and was sentenced to 30 months of probation and ordered to pay more than $9,000 by Circuit Court Judge Erica L. Reddick, according to City of Chicago Office of Inspector General.

Williams, who was employed through city contractor SkyTech Security Services, was accused of telling people that he would help them pay their city tickets and fines then stealing the money, officials said.

He was charged in May 2017 with one count each of theft of government property between $10,000 and $100,000; theft of property between $10,000 and $100,000; theft by deception between $500 and $10,000; theft by unauthorized use between $500 and $100,000 and four counts of wire fraud, all felonies, according to the attorney general’s office.

Williams advertised himself as a “ticket fixer” on social media or would approach individuals waiting in line at a Department of Revenue payment center saying that he could pay the fines for a lower amount or that he could expedite the process. He would “pay” the ticket or fine at a kiosk in the lobby using a check that drew funds from a Chicago Department of Family and Support Services account, prosecutors said last year.

The machine would print a receipt that said the tickets and fines were paid, which Williams provided as proof to individuals while he kept the cash they gave him. The schemes drained more than $40,000 from the DFSS account, prosecutors said.

Williams was ordered to serve 240 hours of community service and pay $9,096.85 in restitution.