Dolton, Illinois Village Hall hit with federal subpoenas; Henyard a no-show at board meeting
Federal agents have issued subpoenas targeting the Dolton Village Hall, CBS News Chicago has learned.
This comes as Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard was a no-show at a village board meeting. She has not shown her face at any such meeting since the infamous brawl at a January meeting of the Thornton Township Board — of which Henyard also serves as president.
Last week, Henyard lost the Democratic primary for another term as Dolton mayor, capturing just 12% of the vote up against 88% for Dolton Village Trustee Jason House. Despite that, and despite remaining a no-show with a vacant seat, federal subpoenas reveal the criminal investigation into Henyard and her administration has ramped up.
Prosecutors came to Dolton Village Hall to serve grand jury subpoenas on Tuesday of last week, just as Dolton voters headed to the polls to give the self-proclaimed "super mayor" Henyard her super loss.
The subpoena demands "emails, phone calls, text messages, and any other means of communications" for a property in Dolton where the owners could not get a license to operate —and much more.
"With the subpoenas, we know there's going to be more to come with other businesses, other vendors," said Dolton Village Trustee Tammie Brown.
The subpoena is requesting the village turn over all documents, including, "employment records for all code inspectors," ranging from January 2014 through the present date.
The federal documents are clear that the "subpoena seeks records pursuant to an official criminal investigation."
"We're definitely going to comply with everything that they're asking for here," Brown said.
Brown is not seeking reelection. She said while Henyard will not remain mayor, the fallout of her behavior continues to be felt.
"[We're still dealing] with problems that Mayor Henyard created, and that's going to be the next two or four years," Brown said. "We've got a long road ahead of us, a lot to work with, a lot to deal with, that Mayor Henyard created this monster."
The subpoena shows that a special grand jury will meet later this month, as the feds work to build a strong case against the Henyard administration.
