2 criminal defense attorneys hired by Tiffany Henyard attend Dolton Village Board meeting

DOLTON, Ill. - It was a chaotic board meeting in Dolton on Monday night. But during that meeting, two unfamiliar faces were seen sitting next to Mayor Tiffany Henyard.

FOX 32 has learned they were criminal defense attorneys brought to the meeting by Mayor Henyard, who is at the center of a federal criminal investigation.

"OK, you’re out of order. Remove her. Remove her. Remove her!" Henyard told a resident and then her security. It was another wild night at the Dolton Village board, with a handful of residents being ejected for shouting at the mayor, who also continues to do battle with a majority of the village trustees.

"You got us into this mess and now we’re trying to salvage what we can to get out," said Kiana Belcher, Dolton Trustee.

"People who say things about me, I want you to prove it. Like I said, fact versus fiction," Henyard responded.

Sitting at the mayor’s side in a place usually reserved for the village attorneys were two unfamiliar faces.

"I didn’t know them. A lot of board members, they didn’t know them either. We didn’t know who they were," said Brittany Norwood, Dolton Trustee.

FOX 32 has learned the two men were Chicago federal criminal defense attorney Beau Brindley and his law partner, Ed McDavid. The website for Brindley’s law firm says: "results matter… Aggressive criminal defense."

The two criminal lawyers sat next to Henyard the entire meeting, and even went into the board’s closed executive session. What makes this especially notable is that Henyard is at the center of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation.

"Our biggest fear is she’s going to use them for her criminal defense attorneys and that the village is going to pay for it," said Norwood, who, when asked if it’s appropriate, added, "not at all."

In a statement, Brindley, a former federal prosecutor, said: "Mayor Henyard retained me to evaluate the board’s conduct and identify violations of municipal law... Mayor Henyard is charged with no crime."

Brindley says he is not being paid by the village.

"Why are you having a federal criminal lawyer sit next to you at a village board meeting? I mean, all I can say is, really?" said Burt Odelson, municipal attorney.

Odelson, who represents the four trustees doing battle with Henyard, says the criminal lawyers had no standing to sit on the board and paying them out of village funds would be illegal.

"We have a lot of experience in Chicago that happens quite frequently that politicians get indicted. But they don’t have the municipality they work for pay for their criminal defense," Odelson said.

Also at the meeting, trustees fired acting police chief Lewis Lacey and several other Dolton employees, saying the village is bleeding money and they need to reduce payroll. In turn, Henyard fired her longtime village administrator Keith Freeman, who is believed to now be cooperating with investigations into village finances.

"Keith Freeman is fired from the village of Dolton. He no longer works here at the village of Dolton," Henyard said.

But sources tell FOX 32 that all the employees fired by both sides came to work on Tuesday as though nothing had happened.

"The layoff of the employees and them returning to work today… is interesting," said Norwood.

On Thursday, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to release her investigation into Henyard’s spending in Dolton. Sources tell FOX 32 that she will report the village is millions of dollars in debt and may not be able to make payroll within a few weeks.