Official kept quiet on past Mail fraud conviction never came up when Des Plaines hired him.(News)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), April, 2004 | by McLaughlin, Amy

Byline: Amy McLaughlin Daily Herald Staff Writer William J. Schneider Jr. said he never tried to hide his felony conviction in the four years he's been Des Plaines' assistant city manager and economic development director. But it wasn't something he went out of his way to publicize, either.

So when officials from the Chicago company he was convicted of defrauding 10 years ago came calling in 2002 to build a casino in Des Plaines, Schneider said he chose to say nothing at all. Nothing, that is, until word broke Friday that Schneider, 34, and his brother John served time in prison after pleading guilty in 1994 to one count each of mail fraud. The pair used phony invoices to bill JMB Realty for about $172,000. Schneider, of Lake Zurich, is now on paid...