Days after his conviction on corruption charges, Ford Heights' mayor says he's stepping down
Days after he was convicted in a corruption case, the mayor of Ford Heights has submitted his resignation, officials say.
“He’s gone,” village attorney Michael Stuttley said Thursday about Mayor Charles Griffin, who was convicted by a Cook County judge earlier this week of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the tiny cash-strapped south suburb. “I saw his letter of resignation.”
Referring to Griffin’s fellow village board members, Stuttley said the resignation will be formalized “once they accept” it in coming days.
Griffin couldn’t be reached. His criminal defense attorney, Phillip Turner, said he hadn’t heard of the resignation but “I’m not surprised because state law is pretty clear on this — it says when you’re convicted, you’re done, you’re finished” in elected office.
Turner plans to file court papers soon seeking to reverse the guilty verdict handed down Monday by Judge James Obbish.
“He’s going to fight this till the death,” Turner said of Griffin, adding that his client is innocent and there were a host of questionable issues at trial and during the investigation.
Among them, according to records and interviews, authorities allegedly wired up a disbarred former Ford Heights municipal attorney who then called Griffin and asked him about a blighted property giveaway program in town, and whether the mayor ever profited from it.
Griffin told the caller “hell no,” and that “should have been it” with the investigation, Turner said. “But they started looking for something else,” and ended up charging Griffin in 2018 with embezzling taxpayer money and using it for personal gain. Those charges resulted in his conviction.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, which prosecuted Griffin, declined comment, calling the case “pending litigation.”
Griffin was mayor of Ford Heights from 2009 to 2017, when he was defeated by Annie Coulter. After taking office, she found financial irregularities and "made a report" that “prompted the investigation,” records show. Griffin then ran again in 2021 and ousted Coulter.
Griffin’s conviction on theft could carry a sentence of probation or up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors say. His official misconduct conviction could also carry probation or up to five years in prison. Griffin is slated for sentencing next month.
Asked whether she’s happy with the conclusion of the case, Coulter said Thursday, “Whether I’m glad or not, that’s hard to say.”
“I don’t want to see anyone go to jail,” she said. “I wish he had been a little more honest with me, but the things I found, he wasn’t honest about.”
Asked whether she might run for mayor again in next year’s election, Coulter said, “I have to talk it over with my family . . . don’t rule me out though.”
As for who will fill Griffin’s position, the village board is expected to decide soon, possibly at a Saturday meeting. Trustee Tina McMichaels appears to be the most senior village board member, but Griffin’s allies are said to be rallying around someone else to replace him.
Among the trustees set to vote on the matter is Jimmy Viverette, who said authorities recently sent him a letter saying he must step down because of a prior criminal conviction. He said he plans to leave around the end of the month, “but it’s all good, I did a good job and, even though Griffin was convicted, I don’t justify what he did, but you have to look at the good this young man did.”