West Chicago deacon gets 6 years for embezzlement

The former deacon and business manager at a Roman Catholic parish in West Chicago was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for embezzling more than $317,000 from the church.



George Valdez, 58, of the 800 block of Gates Street, West Chicago, admitted in a plea agreement to writing unauthorized checks to himself and transferring money from the St. Mary’s Parish bank account into his own. He also used a parish credit card for personal expenses and failed to pay for a family insurance policy.







State’s Attorney Helen Kapas-Erdman said Valdez used the ill-gotten funds to pay for White Sox and Bears tickets, expensive dinners, hotel stays and his daughter’s wedding. The thefts, dating back to 2006, were uncovered during a financial audit in 2009.



“For more than three years, Mr. Valdez stole from those who had placed their trust and confidence in him,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. “He betrayed that trust by lining his own pockets with funds donated to the parish.”



Kapas-Erdman said the church hired Valdez in 2006 because he was out of work. Within three months of receiving the “wonderful opportunity,” she said, he turned to stealing.



Valdez had faced six to 30 years in prison. At a court hearing attended by several members of his family Monday, he fought back tears as he apologized to God, his family and his church.



“He’s a good man who did something wrong,” defense attorney Nicholas Kirkeles said. “He wanted to provide things for his family and just wasn’t able to do it. He made a mistake and it started compounding.”



Valdez’s indictment last year came within months of another former St. Mary’s Parish employee, seminarian Alejandro Flores, being charged in Kane County with molesting an 8-year-old St. Charles boy whose family he met at the church. Flores later pleaded guilty in exchange for a four-year prison term.



Prosecutors said Valdez, who has been in custody since March 31, must serve at least half of his prison sentence. He also must pay restitution totaling $317,257, according to the state’s attorney’s office. DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell will set up a payment plan after Valdez is released from prison, prosecutors said.



Doug Delaney, executive assistant to Bishop Joseph Siegel, said the Diocese of Joliet is self-insured and has already reimbursed St. Mary’s Parish for its losses. The diocese also added two auditors to its ranks, he said.



“Our prayers are with everyone involved in this,” Delaney said. “It’s obviously a difficult time.”