The former Chief of the St. Clair Fire District has pled guilty to stealing more than 500 thousand dollars. Eric Hinson plead guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Sentencing will be on May 2. Hinson admitted stealing the money from January 2006 through September 2011. Hinson became chief in January of 2011 and was paid about 25,000 thousand dollars annually for the part-time job. He pled guilty to taking cash advances on a district credit card and used it for family vacations in Florida and Hawaii. He also altered records to hide the theft.