Ill. Firefighter Sentenced for Stealing Union Money

Sept. 07—A former captain with the Peoria Fire Department has been sentenced to probation for taking $2,100 from the department's credit union.

Joe Camp, 45, of 704 Bayside Circle in Germantown Hills, pleaded guilty Thursday in Peoria County Circuit Court to theft, a felony that could have sent him to prison for up to five years. However, with no criminal history, that was not a likely scenario.

Instead, he will serve 30 months of probation and repay the $2,119 that was taken, said his attorney, Kevin Sullivan, who turned in a check for that amount.

Assistant State's Attorney Deborah Shelby said Camp had served on the board of directors for the Fire Fighters Credit Union and occasionally would work as a teller in the credit union, which is located at the central fire house.

The scheme worked like this: A firefighter would authorize a withdrawal of money from their account to a charity fund within the credit union, and instead of processing the transaction like that, Camp diverted the money into his own account.

When confronted, Camp admitted he had taken the money. The board sought a financial consultant who then noticed a handful of additional transactions that didn't seem to pass muster. The credit union's auditors concurred with the findings, according to Shelby.