Chicago politics, the heart, and soul of the Obama Nation.Just within the last 35 years, Illinois has had two Democratic former governors sent to jail and a former Republican governor charged with federal tax evasion, but later acquitted. That’s three of the last seven governors sent to jail; four charged with a crime. Not a resounding vote of confidence for the voters of Illinois.
The jokes about the Chicago Machine and the dead registering to vote in Chicago used to be an amusing part of the state’s history. Now, the reality of political corruption is becoming almost too much to bear in its long and often reality of Chicago and Illinois politics “to the victor go the spoils.”
In addition the William Ayers anti-government terrorist many talk about there others connected to Obama nationalists Chicago and Illinois Political machinery.
A high-ranking official in Gov. Blagojevich's office spent nearly two years in a federal prison for refusing to aid a government terrorism probe into a series of bombings in Chicago and New York City.
Steven Guerra, Blagojevich's $120,000-a-year deputy chief of staff for community services, was identified by federal prosecutors as a member of the Puerto Rican separatist group, FALN, which was behind a wave of violence and killings in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Before al-Qaida and Timothy McVeigh, the nation's most feared terrorism group was FALN, an organization that sought Puerto Rican independence through a wave of terror more than a quarter century ago.
More than 130 bombings in New York, Illinois and Puerto Rico were attributed to the group, including at least 28 here. Five people were killed, and 84 were injured, including four police officers.
Between 1975 and 1979, FALN took credit for or was suspected in bomb attacks at the Merchandise Mart, the Chicago Police Department headquarters,
Woodfield Shopping Center and a former Marshall Field's department store, among others.
In March 1980, gun-toting sympathizers stormed the Carter-Mondale presidential campaign office in Chicago and held campaign workers hostage.
Like Obama not fair market price housing buying with the convicted Chicago political fund raiser Resko, there is another eerily similar tell about Rep. Luis Gutierrez of heavly gerrymandered 4th Congressional District. Who, like Obama seem to get rather curious property purchasing breaks from Resko and friends.
For example Rep. Luis Gutierrez, like Obama, both had Resko as fund raiser in their up bring within the Imperial Daley Chicago political machine. They both got a deal on a riverfront town house built by Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a developer and prominent political fund-raiser now convicted for a kickback scheme involving state pension funds.
Gutierrez paid $434,900 three years ago for the town house along the Chicago River just north of Diversey. That's far less than his neighbors paid for any of the other riverfront town houses in the development, records show. Oddly similar to Obama new house deal with Resko where Obama says like Gutierrez, Rezko deal was a mistake.
Gutierrez no longer lives there. In March, he sold the town house for $610,000 -- a 40 percent profit.
Feds ratchet up pressure on Rezko Worker who put up homes for Rezko bail.
Only two other original owners have sold their riverfront town houses -- one paid $535,000 and sold it for $650,000, a 21 percent profit; the other paid $622,000 and sold it for $662,000, a 6 percent profit.
Like Obama, Gutierrez said he's been friends for 20 years with Rezko, whose family has donated more than $19,000 to the congressman's campaign funds over the years.
Again like Obama, the congressman said their friendship had nothing to do with him getting the cheapest price on any of the 17 riverfront town houses Rezko
built, with everyone else paying between $495,000 and $660,000, in some cases for smaller homes.
Chicago and Illinois last two Governors are either in jail or facing jail even now in the atypical Chicago and Illinois Resko bribery scam. Oddly the current Democratic Governor who is being investigated now in the Resko matters, was elected ON A CHANGE TICKET after the former Republican Governor Ryan was convicted.
The 16 counts included fraud, money laundering and abetting bribery. Rezko was acquitted of eight counts, including extortion.
Rezko surrendered to federal authorities as soon as the verdicts were read. He explained through his attorney that he wants to begin serving his sentence immediately.
The successful prosecution adds to the pressure on Blagojevich, who rode into office in 2002 with a promise to end corruption in Springfield, the state capital. His Republican predecessor, George Ryan, was convicted of corruption in the same Chicago courthouse in 2006.
"It's another chapter in the sad history of Illinois government," Jay E. Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, told reporters. "I don't think this is the 'No more business as usual' we were promised when Rod Blagojevich became governor back in 2002. He can't blame this on George Ryan."
So today, the Tribune presents a scorecard.
City Hall
- Federal prosecutors have charged 39 people--22 of them current or former city employees--in a scandal that began with corruption in the city's Hired Truck Program. It has widened to the system of hiring and promotion at City Hall, which prosecutors claim has been tainted by politics and cronyism. The city clerk, James Laski, has been charged. A federal judge has appointed a special monitor to oversee city hiring. Twenty-five of the 39 people indicted have pleaded guilty.
- Federal authorities in June broke up a Colombian-linked heroin trafficking ring allegedly run out of the city's Department of Water Management by a $30-an-hour hoisting engineer, George Prado. He is one of four city workers hit with drug charges. Two have pleaded guilty. A time sheet scandal at the water department led to the ouster of several workers, including the brother-in-law of Cook County Commissioner John Daley.
- James Duff, a janitorial contractor whose family socialized with Mayor Richard Daley and raised money for his campaign, pleaded guilty to setting up fronts to capture city contracts reserved for minority- and women-owned firms. Duff was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $22 million in restitution and forfeitures. A city probe of the set-aside program uncovered other abuses and led to the expulsion of other contractors.
The environs of Springfield
- Seventy-nine people have been charged and 73 have been convicted in Operation Safe Road, a federal investigation focusing on alleged corruption during George Ryan's tenure as secretary of state. Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott Fawell, has been convicted and sentenced. Ryan is on trial, facing charges of mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to FBI agents. Safe Road began as an investigation into bribes paid for driver's licenses and expanded into allegations of favoritism in the awarding of state leases, contracts and low-digit license plates in exchange for free vacations and other valuable gifts.
- Federal and state investigators are looking into allegations of pay-to-play politics in the administration of Ryan's successor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Federal criminal grand jury subpoenas seeking hiring information involving several state agencies and the governor's office have been delivered to the administration. Federal agents have interviewed the governor concerning allegations that his administration traded state board and commission appointments for campaign cash.
- State or federal probes have also been launched into allegations of wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts for advertising at the state lottery, for power-washing state buildings and for a state cost-savings initiative.
- Federal prosecutors have charged wealthy political insider Stuart Levine and three others with shaking down hospitals and a medical school for kickbacks in exchange for help getting expansion projects approved. Prosecutors also charged Levine and two Chicago attorneys with extorting kickbacks from investment firms seeking pension fund business. In September, the attorneys pleaded guilty.
- A bid-rigging scandal at McCormick Place has led to guilty pleas on various charges by Scott Fawell, lobbyist Julie Starsiak and the firm for which she worked, Ronan Potts LLC. Fawell, appointed by George Ryan to head the agency that runs McCormick Place, fed inside information to Starsiak that helped a Ronan Potts client submit the low bid for a multimillion-dollar expansion project at the convention center.
- Michael Tristano, a top aide and political operative for state Rep. Lee Daniels, was indicted in May on federal corruption charges. Daniels left his post as Republican House leader in 2002 amid reports of a federal investigation into campaign practices. Tristano stands accused of misusing state resources to aid Republican candidates.
- Bamani Obadele, picked by Blagojevich for a top job with the state's child welfare agency, resigned in August after the agency inspector general accused him of diverting at least $62,000 in public funds to a private bank account he controlled. Federal investigators have subpoenaed the Department of Children and Family Services for all records involving Obadele, who was a campaign aide to Blagojevich in 2002.
- A Lee County grand jury in December indicted former state Prisoner Review Board member Victor Brooks on charges that he voted to free notorious mob hit man Harry Aleman in exchange for help getting Brooks' son a singing job in Las Vegas. Also indicted on misconduct and fraud charges was Ron Matrisciano, a high-ranking state prison official who testified before the board on Aleman's behalf. Aleman was not released.
- A member of the Illinois House, Patricia Bailey of Chicago, was convicted last year on felony perjury and forgery charges and sentenced to 2 years of probation. Bailey, who was stripped of her House seat, falsified election documents to make it appear she lived in the South Side district she represented.
Cook County
- Minority contractor Faust Villazan and his west suburban firm, Faustech Industries, were indicted in September on a bribery charge for allegedly passing $20,000 to a Cook County purchasing official to help win a $49 million radiology equipment contract for the new Stroger Hospital. A U.S. subsidiary of German electronics giant Siemens AG and two of its executives were indicted Friday on charges of entering into a sham partnership with Faustech. Grand jury subpoenas have been issued to the head of the county's contract compliance office and to Cook County Commissioners Roberto Maldonado and Joseph Mario Moreno, who have ties to Villazan.
Earl Bell, the former chief financial officer of the county's Provident Hospital, pleaded guilty in October to federal fraud charges. Bell used his position to help defraud finance companies out of more than $300,000. Bell falsely vouched for debts he said the hospital owed to businesses run by a friend, who then sold those debts to finance companies. The friend and her former husband also pleaded guilty to fraud. Bell had been an active member of County Board President John Stroger's 8th Ward organization.
- Shirley Glover, the former fiscal manager of a county employment training program, was charged in December with embezzling $180,000 in federal funds intended to aid poor residents of the south suburbs. Cook County prosecutors allege that she pocketed half the money and used the rest to wine and dine co-workers.
Here and there
- Developer Clifford Josefik was charged in July with bribing a Berwyn alderman who was working undercover for federal investigators, as well as a former Berwyn mayoral aide who is also facing corruption charges.
- Federal agents seized building permit records, copied computer hard drives and questioned employees about favoritism in the awarding of permits at Will County's Land Use Department.
- In June, a federal jury convicted the Democratic Party chairman in East St. Louis, a city official and three Democratic precinct workers on vote-buying charges stemming from the November 2004 election. Four other Democratic precinct workers earlier pleaded guilty to vote-buying charges.
- Peoria County prosecutors say a grand jury has opened an investigation into possible bidding irregularities at the Peoria Board of Election Commissioners involving the purchase of voting equipment to meet new federal guidelines. The investigation centers on Commissioner Eugene Wittry, who recently left the board. The commission had been poised to buy $1 million in equipment from a start-up company in which Wittry owned stock. Another firm has been awarded the contract.
- - -
It is long and unpleasant reading.
Granted, it is not a shock to anyone familiar with the history of Chicago and Illinois, familiar with Big Bill Thompson, with Al Capone, with Paul Powell's shoebox, with "Hinky Dink" Kenna and "Bathhouse" John Coughlin and the 1st Ward Ball. We are not in prissy Minnesota, not summering at Sunnybrook Farm.
That which is alleged, of course, remains to be proven in court. But Illinois produces enough guilty pleas for these kinds of crimes to establish that this state's problem is close to unique. What none of us should forget is who gets victimized by rampant public corruption: the public.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...5478495.story11CHICAGO – A once mundane, now quickly growing, investigation into Chicago City Hall hiring and contracting practices has become a relentless drumbeat of indictments, convictions, and front-page headlines that threatens to topple one of America's most monarchical mayors
Even amid Chicago's storied reputation for corruption, this has been an unusually significant and far-reaching investigation involving 30 indictments and 23 convictions. Those charged have included a top official at the mayor's office of intergovernmental affairs and the former deputy water commissioner, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes, shaking down companies for political contributions, and rigging hiring. With a number of cooperating witnesses, including the water czar, the investigation is far from over.
What's remarkable is that for the first time, Mayor Richard M. Daley seems politically vulnerable.
The Chicago Tribune - June 4, 2008
A federal grand jury indicted the police chief of a small town in northern Kankakee County on charges of running a prostitution scam that bilked more than $400,000 from 99 men who handed over the m...
From the Chicago TribuneA federal jury today convicted developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko of corruption charges for trading on his clout as a top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.**And once
The Chicago Tribune - June 3, 2008
A former Chicago police officer pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to racketeering, admitting he robbed drug dealers of cash numerous times, planted drugs on people he arrested and used fake
Gapers Block - June 3, 2008
Embedded in the text of the indictments handed down by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office May 22 charging bribes and corruption in our city’s building and zoning departments, are Chicago add
The Chicago Tribune - May 30, 2008
An indicted Chicago police officer said his supervisors in the Special Operations Section encouraged officers to lie on police reports to cover up illegal searches for guns and drugs, according to
Chicagoist - May 23, 2008
US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who's in desperate need of a nickname, said there's "every reason to think there are more charges to come in the future," following the arrest of 15 people, includin...
Chicagoist - May 23, 2008
"'Everything was the exact opposite of the way it should be,'" says David Hoffman, the city's inspector general, describing the bribery and corruption in
Chicago's zoning and building departments.
Clout City - May 22, 2008
The corruption charges announced Thursday against seven city employees just raise other questions
15 City Employees Charged in Bribe Taking
Rogers Park Bench - May 22, 2008
This, sadly, is no shock to Chicagoans. We live in a corrupt city, with corrupt politicians and corrupt business people. What is midly surprising, however, is the scope of this federal investigatio
* Chicago's Zoning and Buildings Department is Corrupt
Broken Heart - May 22, 2008
Operation Crooked Code: Seven City of Chicago employees arrested. Robert Grant with the FBI and David Hoffman with Inspector General of the City of Chicago said the Chicago's Zoning and Buildings
Feds nab seven city inspectors in bribery case Chi-Town Daily News - May 22, 2008
Also charged in the federal investigation were eight others, including property owners, developers and contractors. They worked with corrupt inspectors to grease permit approvals, the feds say
15 Charged After Building-Permit Bribery Investigation Chicagoist - May 22, 2008
Fifteen people, including seven city employees, are being charged with crimes connected to corruption and bribery within the Chicago's Building and Zoning Departments. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzger
New Corruption Indictments Hit City Hall Gapers Block - May 22, 2008
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is having a busy week. A day after rounding up members of the Gangster Disciples in a The Wire-style bust, Fitz and Inspector General David Hoffman charged 15 in a
• March 2003
• Scott Fawell, Chief of Staff to former Illinois Governor George Ryan, was convicted of racketeering. Fawell became the 65th and highest-ranking defendant in Operation Safe Roads, a five-year investigation of corruption in the Illinois Secretary of State's office under former Governor Ryan.
• June 15, 2001
• Betty Loren Maltese, President of the Town of Cicero, was indicted, along with nine others, by a Federal grand jury on charges of wire, mail, and bank fraud and racketeering. The indictment was the culmination of a five-year investigation headed by the FBI. Maltese and eight co-defendants subsequently were convicted at trial in August 2002.
• January 2001
• The last defendant in Operation Silver Shovel, former Cicero Collector Gerald Resnik, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, bringing to an end the probe of public corruption. A total of six aldermen and twelve others were convicted in the most successful investigation of public corruption in Chicago's history.
• October 19, 2000
• William A. Hanhardt, retired chief of detectives for the Chicago Police Department, was charged in a Federal grand jury indictment, along with five others, of masterminding a nationwide jewel theft ring.
• December 1998
• Chicago Police Officer Joseph Miedzianowski, along with 14 others, was charged with running a drug distribution ring based on Chicago's northwest side. Described as the most corrupt cop in Chicago's history, Miedzianowski was convicted in U.S. District court in April 2001.
• March 26, 1998
• The first of several indictments was returned in the federal probe of point-shaving schemes in the Northwestern University football and basketball programs during 1994 and 1995. A total of eleven individuals, including eight student athletes, was charged and convicted.
• July 11, 1996
• The first indictment was made in FBI Chicago's Operation Foul Ball. This nationwide case investigated sports collectible dealers who created and distributed large quantities of forged sports memorabilia, such as jerseys, shoes, bats, balls, hats, and photographs, which were allegedly signed by famous athletes. By the end of the investigation, a total of seven men had been found guilty of selling forged sports memorabilia.
• December 20, 1995
• The first indictment was made in FBI Chicago's Operation Silver Shovel, which investigated public corruption in city government. During the course of the investigation, six City of Chicago Aldermen, in addition to twelve other local officials, were convicted of accepting bribes.
• October 19, 1990
• A Cook County Circuit Court Judge, an Illinois State Senator, a Chicago Alderman, and two others were charged by a federal grand jury as a result of FBI Chicago's Operation Gambat investigation. These individuals were charged with crimes relating to corruption in the Cook County Circuit Court, the Illinois Senate, and the Chicago City Council. Four of those charged were convicted; the fifth defendant died awaiting trial.
• August 2, 1989
• The Attorney General announced the indictment of 46 current and former traders and brokers on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. The indictments were the result of a two-year FBI Chicago investigation in which four Agents posed as raders.
• November 21, 1986
• The first of two federal grand jury indictments was returned as part of the FBI's Operation Incubator. A total of fourteen local officials were charged with accepting bribes, including a Deputy Water Commissioner, the Cook County Clerk, a former Mayoral Aide, and four Aldermen.
• January 21, 1986
• Five men, including Joseph Aiuppa, the reputed leader of organized crime in Chicago, were convicted of skimming over two million dollars from Las Vegas casinos that were secretly owned by the mafia. The direct result of the FBI's Strawman investigation, these convictions virtually eliminated the hierarchy of organized crime in Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
• August 10, 1984
• 300 FBI Agents and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Agents, assisted by Cook County State's Attorney Investigators, executed 14 search warrants at suburban Chicago locations as part of Operation Safebet. This FBI Chicago investigation targeted political corruption and the organized crime control of illegal prostitution activity throughout the Chicago metropolitan area and resulted in the indictment and conviction of more than 75 individuals.
• March 15, 1984
• Former Deputy Traffic Court Clerk Harold Conn became the first defendant to be convicted in FBI Chicago's Operation Greylord investigation into corruption in the Cook County Circuit Court. This was the first undercover operation to investigate corruption in the courtroom, a major turning point in investigating public corruption. Nearly 100 people, including 13 judges and 51 attorneys, were indicted and convicted as a result of this investigation.
• March 27, 1929
• Alphonse "Scarface" Capone was arrested by FBI Special Agents in Florida after he failed to appear as a witness in a federal prohibition case in Chicago.
• February 14, 1929
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred in Chicago between rival bootlegging gangs. FBI Chicago conducted ballistics tests in the case, leading to the eventual creation of the FBI Laboratory.
• October 11, 1925
• Special Agent Edwin J. Shanahan of FBI Chicago became the first FBI Agent to be killed in the line of duty. Shanahan was shot while attempting to arrest Martin James Durkin, a professional auto thief. On January 20, 1926, Agents captured Durkin in a railroad car near St. Louis, Missouri, and arrested him for Shanahan's murder.
• August 21, 1920
• FBI Chicago was created. At that time, the FBI was known as the Bureau of Investigation. The first Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of FBI Chicago was James P. Rooney.
THAT IS ALL!!