Appellate Court Backs Conviction of Former DuPage County Forest Preserve Employee

Submitted by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

WHEATON, IL – DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced today that the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the conviction of former Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC) employee David Tepper, 52 (d.o.b. 11/15/1963). Justice Hutchinson delivered the judgment of the court with Justices McLaren and Zenoff concurring.

On October 1, 2015, Judge Liam Brennan found Tepper guilty of Unlawful Participation and Official Misconduct, both Class 3 Felonies. Brennan sentenced him to 180 days in the Dupage County Jail and two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $104,572 in court costs and fines. He has remained free pending the Appellate Court’s ruling.

Tepper’s conviction was based upon allegations that as an employee of the FPDDC, Tepper gained authorization from the FPDDC Board to enter the FPDDC into a contract with USA Digital without informing the Board that he also worked for USA Digital. Once the contract was agreed upon by both parties, Tepper collected approximately $80,000 from USA Digital as a commission fee. Brennan’s verdict followed an eight-day-long trial which concluded on September 23, 2015.

In his appeal, Tepper first argued that the trial court erred in that a conviction of the offense of unlawful participation could not be based on an omission of fact – Tepper’s failure to inform the Board that he also worked for USA Digital - but rather would have to be based on some concrete actions taken by Tepper to deceive the Board. Tepper also argued that his employment with USA Digital did not constitute an intent to defraud the FPDDC because the FPDDC did not sustain financial loss. In fact, Tepper argued, the FPDDC had received services for which it contracted. In addressing Tepper’s first argument, the Appellate Court found that Tepper’s deception was carried out in large part by his silence about his employment at USA Digital. The Appellate Court found that “like speech, silence can be intentionally misleading” and that intentional silence was an action purposely taken by Tepper. In regards to Tepper’s second argument, the Appellate Court found that an entity need not suffer a financial loss to be victim of a crime. The Appellate Court stated in their decision that it cannot be said “as a practical matter that the District suffered no loss here” noting that Tepper’s actions caused the District to suffer “the diminished opportunity to obtain a more financially favorable contract” and that it “lost control over to whom the money was paid.” The Appellate Court further noted that “all of this says nothing about the reputational damage done to the District by its employees’ betrayal of the public trust.”

Tepper appeared in court today where Judge Liam Brennan ordered him to turn himself in on October 11, 2016 to begin serving his sentence.

Tepper’s appeal was defended by Lisa Hoffman, Supervisor of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Appeals Division.

“I would like to thank the Appellate Court for their extremely thorough and detailed review of Mr. Tepper’s case,” Berlin said. “The Appellate Court’s decision affirms our contention, plain and simple, that Mr. Tepper took advantage of his position with the Forest Preserve to line his pockets with more than $80,000 of ill-gotten gains. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Hoffman for outstanding work in ensuring that Mr. Tepper is held accountable for his actions.”