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CHICAGO STILL THE CORRUPTION CAPITAL

Anti-Corruption Report #12

February 17, 2020

Authored by
Dick Simpson
Thomas J. Gradel
Michael Dirksen
Marco Rosaire Rossi

University of Illinois at Chicago

Department of Political Science
 !2

Chicago continues to be the most corrupt city in the country and Illinois remains the third
most corrupt state.
This conclusion is based on an analysis of the public corruption statistics published by the
Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. Every year, DOJ compiles total public
corruption convictions for each state and for the nation's 94 Federal Judicial District, which it
sends in a report to Congress.1
DOJ's most recent report was released last month. It contains the statistics from 1976,
when it began collecting the data, through the end of 2018. The Chicago metropolitan area
accounts for almost all of the public corruption cases in the Northern District of Illinois.
Total public corruption convictions vary from year to year. Over the last five years, total
convictions for public corruption in the Chicago region (The Northern District of Illinois) have
ranged from a low of 13 in 2018 to a high of 30 in 2016. In the state of Illinois, which has three
Federal Judicial Districts, total public corruption convictions ranged from 18 in 2018 to 35 in
2016.
As Table 1 demonstrates, Chicago remains the most corrupt city in the United States with
1,750 total public corruption convictions from 1976 through 2018. This number is even more
troubling when compared to the second-place city, Los Angeles, which has had 200 fewer
convictions in that time period. Each decade, Chicago has continued to have a similar, if not
greater, number of convictions as Los Angeles, despite having a smaller population.
Also, for the period from 1976 through 2018, Chicago has more total public corruption
convictions than not only Los Angeles but also the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

1 The Department of Justice's Public Corruption conviction numbers are compiled annually for each of the nation's
94 Federal Judicial Districts. The City of Chicago is entirely in one judicial district, Northern Illinois, which
includes the northern third of the state. Los Angeles is in the Central California District, which also includes
Riverside and Santa Ana. But, while most of New York City is in the Southern District of New York, Brooklyn is in
the Eastern District. Nonetheless, based on DOJ's statistics from 1976 through 2018, the Northern Illinois Judicial
District is the most corrupt judicial district in the country. This district is based in Chicago and almost all of its
public corruption convictions occur in the Chicago metropolitan area.
 !3

An analysis of the recently released DOJ statistics, 1976 through 2018, shows that on a
per capita basis Illinois remains the third most corrupt state compared to all 50 states and the
District of Columbia. The states of New York, California, Texas, and Florida each have more
total public corruption convictions than Illinois but their populations are larger than Illinois;
therefore, on a per capita basis they rank them lower than Illinois.
The District of Columbia has the most public corruption convictions per capita, not only
because its population is comparably low, but also because it is the center of the national
government where the Department of Justice is headquartered. Almost all of the federal agencies
are housed there with their large staffs of government employees to monitor and investigate.
Table 1:
Federal Public Corruption Convictions by Judicial District 1976-2018
Rank for District 1976-89 1990-99 2000-09 2010-18 1976-2018
Conviction (Major City)

1 Illinois-Northern 508 610 367 259 1,750

(Chicago)
2 California-Central 268 595 383 301 1,547
(Los Angeles)
3 New York-Southern 550 398 242 170 1,360
(Manhattan)
4 Florida-Southern 108 437 404 255 1,204
(Miami)
5 District of Columbia 239 393 342 204 1,178

6 New Jersey 202 264 410 268 1,144

(Newark)
7 Pennsylvania-Eastern 291 246 252 249 1,038
(Philadelphia)
8 Virginia-Eastern 189 213 303 312 1,017
(Richmond)
9 Ohio-Northern 173 314 333 179 999
(Cleveland)
10 New York-Eastern 308 237 204 113 862
(Brooklyn)
11 Texas-Southern 116 205 267 230 818
(Houston)
 !4

12 Florida-Middle 159 179 230 185 753

(Orlando)
13 Massachusetts 193 159 187 152 691
(Boston)
14 Louisiana-Eastern 117 173 230 167 687
(New Orleans)
15 California-Eastern 156 203 200 98 657
(Sacramento, Fresno)

Table 2:
Federal Public Corruption Convictions Per Capita
Top Thirteen States with Most Convictions 1976-2018
Rank for State Convictions Population Conviction
Convictions 1976-2018 2018 Per 10,000
Per Capita Population
1 District of 1,178 701,547 16.79
Columbia
2 Louisiana 1,223 4,659,690 2.62
3 Illinois 2,120 12,723,071 1.66
4 Tennessee 1,038 6,771,631 1.53
5 New York 2,931 19,530,351 1.50
6 Pennsylvania 1,848 12,800,922 1.44
7 Virginia 1,174 8,501,286 1.38
8 Ohio 1,559 11,676,341 1.33
9 New Jersey 1,144 8,886,025 1.28
10 Georgia 1,137 10,511,131 1.08
11 Florida 2,224 21,244,317 1.04
12 Texas 2,263 28,628,666 .79
13 California 2,896 39,461,588 .73

Louisiana, which also has a lower population than Illinois', ranks second in corruption on
a per capita basis. Similar to Illinois, Louisiana is a state with a long legacy of machine politics.
 !5

It has been dominated by a corrupt Democratic Party machine with a corrupt history before and
after the days of Huey Long. Like Illinois, Louisiana has had it governors go to jail.
Looking at all the states and all of the Federal Judicial districts there have been a total of
19,634 public corruption convictions in the United States during the last ten years, from 1999 to
2018. In the year 2018, a total of 695 public official, federal employees and government
contractors were convicted for public corruption. And, at the end of the year, 765 individuals
were charged and awaiting trial.

A Snapshot of Corruption in 2018

The DOJ reports and statistics do not break out or discuss the individual persons
convicted nor do they describe the individual cases behind the figures. Also not discussed are
federal actions other than convictions, such as criminal investigations, indictments, and
sentencing.
In order to get a fuller picture of public and political corruption in Chicago and Illinois,
we have examined reports from the Cook County State's Attorney, from inspectors general for
the state, and for local governments. Additionally, we searched news media reports about public
corruption. In Appendix 1 of our report, in additions to specific federal corruption convictions,
we include non-federal public corruption convictions and other anti-corruption enforcement
actions.
While federal convictions for public corruption tapered off slightly in 2018, since then
there has been an increase in news reports about investigations launched and other on-going anti-
corruption activity quietly underway during that year. Thus, it is highly likely that numerous
high-level elected public officials will be convicted in 2020 or 2021.
On November 29, 2018, federal agents raided the City Hall offices of City Council
Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke and removed computers and other potential
evidence from Alderman Burke's 14th Ward office.
A month later, news organizations revealed that Alderman Danny Solis, Ward 25, was
under investigation and was cooperating with federal prosecutors by secretly recording his
conversions with Ald. Burke during the previous two years, 2018 and 2017.
 !6

The Burke and Solis investigations, which were underway in 2018, plus fallout from the
investigations of State Senator Martin Sandoval and from the Teamster boss John Coli, strongly
suggest that there will be numerous public corruption convictions in 2020 and 2021.

Other 2018 Corruption Highlights

In addition to these headline grabbing investigations, there were numerous other anti-
corruption developments in 2018. Following are some highlights:
● Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted in Cook County Criminal Court
of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for killing Laquan McDonald, an
African-American teenager. A year later, Van Dyke was sentenced to seven years in prison.
● In March, Alderman Willie Cochran, Ward 20, who was indicted in 2016, attempted but
failed to get the charges against him dismissed. A year later, Cochran pled guilty to taking
$14,000 from a charitable 20th Ward fund and using the money for personal expenses.
● Also in March, Alaina Hampton, a former staffer for Illinois House Speaker Michael
Madigan, filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Democratic Party of Illinois and Friends of Michael
J. Madigan of retaliation. In her lawsuit, Hampton claimed that Kevin Quinn, her direct
supervisor on three political campaigns, harassed her in his pursuit of a romantic and sexual
relationship and that she was forced to quit because she could no longer suffer the crippling fear
and anxiety she experienced. In 2019, Hampton settled her lawsuit for $275,000.
● In May, two Chicago police officers, Xavier Elizondo and David Salgado, were
indicted for submitting false affidavits to judges to illegally obtain search warrants and then
stealing evidence. The officers, were also charged with pocketing $4,200 during a search of a
rental vehicle. In 2019, officers Elizondo and Salgado were found guilty of conspiracy and
obstructing justice. Elizondo was also convicted of one count of attempting to destroy evidence,
while Salgado was also found guilty of lying to the FBI.
● Also in May, Police officer William Whitley. a longtime veteran of the Chicago Police
Department, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of federal sex trafficking of a minor
after admitting that he paid young girls for sex.

* * * *
 !7

Appendix 1

2018 Corruption Day by Day

January 11, 2018 Findings and Recommendations

The Office of the Illinois Executive Inspector General found that Steve McClain, men's
basketball head coach for the University of Illinois at Chicago, accepted $2,500 from a
prohibited source, FastModel Sports, in violation of the Illinois Ethics Act Gift Ban, and UIC’s
conflict of interest policy. After the investigation, the OIEG made recommendations and UIC
implemented all of the recommendations.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/16-02506%20McClain.pdf

January 17, 2018 Fired

Bianca Kelly, an employee of Illinois Department of Human Services, failed to notify DHS that
her income exceeded the maximum gross income standard for most of 2016, which would have
disqualified her from receiving SNAP benefits. She also continued to accept the child’s fathers
SNAP benefits while he was incarcerated for most of 2016 and part of 2017. It was found that
she improperly used her position to maintain these benefits. Her employment with the state was
terminated and she was ordered to pay back the SNAP benefits.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-00402%20Kelly.pdf

January 24, 2018 Findings and Recommendations

Ebonie Davis, a trainer employed by the Training and Development Institute of Illinois
Department of Human Rights, was found to have violated IDHR's secondary employment policy,
by failing to obtain approval for secondary employment and by conducting a training on cultural
competency as an independent contractor for the Cook County State's Attorney Office. The state
Office of Executive Inspector General recommended that IDHR undertake disciplinary action
and the department agreed to do so under provisions of its contract with the employee’s union.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-00724%20Davis.pdf

March 6, 2018 Convicted

Marvin Jones and Angela Wansley, employees of the Tinley Park, Illinois, post office were found
guilty of accepting bribes to perform official postal duties, conspiring to and committing
 !8

obstruction of correspondence. According to evidence at trial, the two employees schemed to

intercept mailed packages of a controlled substance, marijuana, which were then diverted to a
third or fourth person. Source: USAO – Illinois, Northern, March 6, 2018.
Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-jury-convicts-two-postal-service-employees-scheming-deliver-
marijuana-through

March 13, 2018 Findings and Recommendations

Illinois Department of Agriculture hired new employees from the years 2007-2015 but failed to
complete the court-ordered Rutan interviews and failed to maintain required hiring
documentation, according to the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General. The OEIG also
found that employees were rehired under personal service contracts between 2013 and 2015
without documenting that the rehires provided any tangible benefit to the agency. The OEIG said
the department also failed to prove that the rehires performed satisfactorily in their previous term
of employment. Finally, the OEIG found that a specific employee, Cheryl Bluhm, hired state fair
workers who would not otherwise have been hired if the proper Rutan interviews had been
conducted. The OEIG made some recommendation and closed the case but left any disciplinary
action up to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/14-01678%20Bluhm.pdf

March 13, 2018 Fired by DHS. OEIG recommended that

IDHS employee not be rehired

Bobbi Mercer, a Public Aid Eligibility Assistant at the Illinois Department of Human Services in
Quincy, Illinois, was found to have activated other people's Link cards and used those SNAP
benefits for herself. She did this by activating Link cards for people in the Adams County Jail
and the Illinois Department of Corrections. She was fired and is unable to seek employment from
DHS in the future.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-00157%20Mercer.pdf

March 16, 2018 Motion to dismiss charges

Alderman Willie Cochran, Ward 20, who was indicted in December, 2016, and charged with 11
counts of wire fraud and two counts each of extortion and bribery, in March 2018, motioned to
dismiss some of the charges against him. In June 2018, the judge shot down a bid by Cochran to
have the case tossed.

On March 21, 2019, Ald. Cochran pled guilty and admitted to the federal judge that he took
$14,000 from a charitable 20th Ward fund and used it for personal expenses. In June, 2019,
 !9

Cochran, a former Chicago police officer, was sentenced to a year in federal prison. He did not
run for re-election as 20th Ward Alderman in municipal elections in 2019.

Source:
http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=1461f972-9806-4509-
b526-7cb1031dd935
&
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-alderman-willie-cochran-guilty-20190320-story.html

March 16, 2018 Sex-Harassment Lawsuit Filed

Alaina Hampton, a former staffer for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, filed a lawsuit
Wednesday in Chicago federal court accusing the Democratic Party of Illinois and Friends of
Michael J. Madigan of retaliation. In her lawsuit, Hampton claims Kevin Quinn, her direct
supervisor on three campaigns she worked in 2016, harassed her in his pursuit of a romantic and
sexual relationship. Hampton claims the harassment continued until February 2017. She claims
she was forced to quit in April 2017 “because she could no longer suffer the crippling fear and
anxiety she experienced.”
A political consultant whose allegations of sexual harassment against a top aide to powerful
House Speaker Mike Madigan highlighted the treatment of women in Illinois politics reached a
settlement in November 2019, with four of the speaker’s political committees. Alaina Hampton
settled her 2018 lawsuit for $275,000 with the Democratic Party of Illinois, the Democratic
Majority, the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
Source:
https://www.courthousenews.com/ex-aide-files-sex-harassment-suit-against-illinois-democrats
&
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/11/29/20988763/alaina-hampton-federal-lawsuit-madigan-quinn-settlement

May 2, 2018 Indicted

James Hernandez, an elevator foreman at the University of Illinois at Chicago was indicted for
receiving bribes of more than $200,000 from the owner of Smart Elevators Co. for steering UIC's
elevator repair work to the company. From 2011 to 2015 Smart Elevators was paid more than $5
million for servicing and repairing UIC elevators. Hernandez was charged with one count of
conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and three counts of bribery.
Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-indictment-charges-uic-elevator-foreman-pocketing-bribes-steer-
elevator-work

May 10, 2018 Indicted

Two Chicago police officers were indicted for submitting false affidavits to judges to illegally
obtain search warrants and then stealing evidence. The officers, Xavier Elizondo and David
Salgado were also charged with pocketing $4,200 during a search of a rental vehicle.
Subsequently on October 22, 2019, officers Elizondo and Salgado were found guilty of
 !10

conspiracy and obstructing justice. Elizondo was also convicted of one count of attempting to
destroy evidence, while Salgado was also found guilty of lying to the FBI.

Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-two-chicago-police-officers-fraudulently-obtaining-
search
&
https://www.yahoo.com/news/2-chicago-police-officers-convicted-205710332.html

May 14, 2018 Convicted

Police officer William Whitley. a longtime veteran of the Chicago Police Department, pleaded
guilty in federal court to one count of federal sex trafficking of a minor after admitting that he
paid young girls for sex.
Source:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/5/15/18405275/cpd-veteran-admits-to-paying-young-girls-for-sex-faces-life-in-
prison

May 24, 2018 Suspended

The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General found that Yolanda Villa , a nursing assistant
at the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, failed to notify the Department of Human
Services that her income exceeded the maximum monthly gross income standard for SNAP
benefits which resulted in her receiving an overpayment of SNAP benefits for three months in
2016. The OEIG left the decision on disciplinary action up to the IDVA, which ordered a 15 day
paper suspension and a 15 day actual suspension for Yolanda Villa.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-00403%20Villa.pdf

May 30, 2018 Finding, Referral and Settlement

The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General found that there was reasonable cause to find
that Anne Melissa Dowling, former acting director of the Department of Insurance, violated the
revolving door prohibition of the Illinois Ethics Act by serving on the board of advisors for
Prosperity Life Insurance Group within a year, the prohibited time period, after her service to the
Department of Insurance. She received compensation for services provided to Prosperity. The
OEIG referred Ms. Dowling's alleged violation of the Ethics Act to the Illinois Attorney General.
The parties settled the matter before the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission which accepted a
settlement agreement between the OEIG and Ms. Dowling. As part of the settlement, the
Commission made no finding that Ms. Dowling violated the Ethics Act. Ms. Dowling agreed to
make a "Settlement Sum" payment of $20,625.00 to the State of Illinois. The settlement
agreement was approved by the Illinois Attorney General.

Source:
 !11

https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-01511%20Dowling.pdf

June 11, 2018 Indicted

Anne Aroste, a claims specialist for the U.S. Social Security administration in Aurora, Ill., was
indicted for identity theft and defrauding the government of at least $680,000. As a claims
specialist she was responsible for processing social security claims. From 2013 until 2018 she
filed claims on behalf of deceased workers. She then used her position to approve their
applications and route their payments to bank accounts that she then controlled.

Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/claims-specialist-social-security-administration-arrested-fraud-and-identity-
theft

June 12, 2018 Finding and referral

Beginning in April, 2017, the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General began investigating
complaints that a probationary Highway Maintainer for the Illinois Department of Transportation
was placed on leave and ultimately forced to resign because he reported misconduct to IDOT
management. The OEIG said it had reasonable cause to find that, in violation of the Ethics Act,
IDOT took retaliatory action against the Highway Maintainer because he engaged in protected
activity. OEIG recommended that IDOT take whatever action it deems necessary to ensure that
its employees and managers understand the rules for reporting misconduct and for determining
employee disciplinary action. OEIG also referred IDOT's violations of the Ethics Act to the
Illinois Attorney General. IDOT's Chief Counsel Ethics Officer said that IDOT disagreed with
the OEIG's findings.

Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/
17-00682%20Illinois%20Department%20of%20Transportation.pdf

June 19, 2018 Indicted

A federal grand jury in Rockford, IL, indicted a former U.S. Postal worker, Jennifer L. Duncan
of McHenry County, and charged her with removing approximately $3,500 from mail addressed
to an individual in Tennessee.

Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-postal-employee-indicted-theft-us-mail

June 19, 2018 Investigation and Findings

The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General issued a finding that the Chicago Transit
Authority improperly hired Eric McKennie, who had close ties to State Senator Kimberly
Lightford, D-Maywood.
 !12

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the OEIG said the CTA created the job just for him, paid
him at a rate of more than $80,000 a year and kept him around for several months even though
he rarely showed up for work. According to the newspaper, the CTA responded that while
McKennie "violated CTA attendance and timekeeping policies," which the agency was
addressing, the CTA "vehemently disagrees" that he was hired for his political affiliation," that
the job was created for him and that the CTA violated state law. McKennie only worked for the
CTA for about four months and resigned more than a month after the OEIG received an
anonymous complaint that sparked the investigation.
Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-00162%20CTA,
%20McKone%20and%20McKennie.pdf
&
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/1/25/18408621/cta-broke-law-by-hiring-legislator-s-housemate-who-rarely-
showed-up-inspector

July 31, 2018 Findings and Recommendation

The Chicago Public Schools' largest alternative schools providers, the for profit Camelot
Education, hired former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett's co-defendants Gary Solomon and Thomas
Vranas as undisclosed paid lobbyists to help skirt CPS' procurement rules. With Byrd-Bennett's
assistance, the company was able to obtain large contracts to open publically funded schools for
students who had dropped out or are at risk of doing so.

The alternative school operator paid Solomon and Vranas nearly $300,000 and subsequently
obtained $67 million in CPs business, according to the Board of Education's Inspector General.
The OIG found that Camelot used Solomon's and Vranas's relationship with Byrd-Bennett to
obtain confidential inside information regarding forthcoming Requests for Proposals and to gain
behind-the-scenes access to her and her staff.

Byrd-Bennett, Solomon and Vranas were previously convicted and sentenced to federal prison
for a separate CPS matter investigated by the OIG, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Northern District of Illinois. (Note: the OIG did not mention the name Camelot Education in its
report but the Chicago Sun-Times and other news organizations did.)

The OIG recommended that the Board of Education debar Camelot, Solomon, and Vranas. The
OIG noted that it might be too disruptive for CPS and recommended instead that Camelot be
fined no less than $6.7 million and that the contracts Camelot currently holds be allowed to lapse
and then placed back out to bid.

Source:
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.gatekeeper.chipublib.org/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news/
16D85A24EAC54F70
&
http://cpsoig.org/uploads/3/5/5/6/35562484/2018_07.31_sar.pdf
&
http://cpsoig.org/uploads/3/5/5/6/35562484/press_release_07.31.2018.pdf
 !13

August 23, 2018 Indicted

Charles R. Griffin, the former mayor of Ford Heights, Illinois, was charged with embezzling
over $147,000 from the village’s bank accounts while in office. After Griffin left office,
irregularities were discovered in the village's bank accounts. These irregularities were eventually
traced to Griffin's personal bank accounts. Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx charged
Griffin with two felonies: theft and official misconduct.

Source:
https://www.cookcountystatesattorney.org/news/former-mayor-ford-heights-charged-embezzling-public-funds

August 23, 2018 Indicted

Chicago Police Officers Kevin Tate and Milot Cadichon were indicted for allegedly providing
information from non-public traffic crash reports to the owner of an attorney-referral service in
exchange for cash. Officer Cadichon allegedly was paid $7,350 and office Tate was paid at least
$6000.

In August, 2019, Officer Cadichon pled guilty and admitted accepting about $10,000 in the
scheme. The following month, Officer Tate admitted accepting at least $10,000 in kickbacks and
pled guilty to one count of conspiracy. Richard Burton, the attorney who ran the referral service,
pleaded guilty in June, 2019.

Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/two-chicago-police-officers-indicted-federal-bribery-charges
&
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-cop-bribery-20190920-
af5k2ieuobhhhptnbsbatmcyzm-story.html
&
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2019/11/25/20982169/milot-cadichon-bribery-charge-sentence-richard-burton-
kevin-tate-chicago-police
&
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-cop-bribery-20190920-
af5k2ieuobhhhptnbsbatmcyzm-story.html

October 5. 2018 Conviction

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted in Cook County Criminal Court of
second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for killing Laquan McDonald four
years earlier on October 20, 2014. More than a year later, on January 18, 2019, Van Dyke was
sentenced to seven years in prison.

Source:
 !14

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/10/5/18422864/16-shots-a-guilty-verdict-and-a-chicago-cop-goes-to-jail-for-
killing-a-teen
&
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/us/jason-van-dyke-sentencing.html

October 5. 2018 Conviction; barred from doing business with the City
John Balzano pleaded guilty in Circuit Court in Chicago to stealing nearly $1 million from the
City of Chicago via a contracting pass-through scheme. Balzano plead guilty to one Class 1
felony of theft of government property and one Class 2 felony of fraudulently obtaining money
reserved for disadvantaged business enterprises. Balzano was ordered to pay $100, 000 in
restitution and sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Balzano, along with his spouse and
business partner, Natalie Balzano, were also permanently barred from owning or acting as an
officer, director, or manager of any entity that does business with the City of Chicago.
The Balzanos defrauded the City of Chicago by working with a Minority Business Enterprise
(MBE) subcontractor, the owner of Oak Park-based PJ’s Ace Hardware, who generated false
invoices for car wash products that were sold and delivered by non-MBE suppliers.
Previously Clyde Williams, owner of PJ’s Ace Hardware, and Kurt Koziol, former owner of
Koziol Car Wash, pleaded guilty to felony theft of government property. In the plea agreements,
Williams agreed to pay the City restitution of $22,280.51, and Koziol agreed to pay the City
restitution of $8,637.24. Williams and Koziol were also ordered permanently barred from doing
business with the City of Chicago, and Williams was ordered permanently barred from receiving
City MBE certification.
Source:
https://igchicago.org/2018/10/05/car-wash-contractor-pleads-guilty-to-defrauding-the-city-and-is-ordered-to-
pay-100000-in-restitution/

November 29, 2018 Trial begins for cops charged in cover-up

A trial in Cook County Criminal Court began for three Chicago police officers who were charged
in 2017 with lying to protect office Jason Van Dyke in the shooting of Laquan McDonald.

On January 17, 2019, officers Joseph Walsh, Thomas Gaffney and Detective David March were
acquitted of charges that they conspired to cover up the shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Source:
https://apnews.com/7b0dd2d23ac1495b9dcb28e47305a74f
&
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-laquan-mcdonald-shooting-police-coverup-20190117-
story.html

November 29, 2018 FBI raid

Early in the morning. Federal agents showed up unannounced at the City Hall office of Finance
Committee Chairman Edward Burke. That afternoon the agents left with one cardboard file box,
 !15

a computer, and two computer monitors. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to
comment on the reason for the raids.

On January 3, 2019, federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint charging Ald. Burke with
attempted extortion for allegedly using his position as alderman to try to steer business to his law
firm from a company seeking to renovate a fast-food restaurant in his ward.

On May 30, 2019, Burke was indicted on expanded federal racketeering and bribery charges.
In addition to attempted extortion of the old post office developers, the 14-count indictment
accuses Burke of trying to muscle developers of two smaller projects into hiring his law firm as
well. The charges also allege that Burke threatened to oppose an increase in the admission fee for
a Chicago museum after the museum failed to respond to the alderman’s inquiry about an
internship there for a child of a friend. The indictment does not name the museum, but details
included in the charges make clear it was the Field Museum, news sources said.

When today's UIC report was being prepared for publication, the charges against Burke were
pending and no trial date had been set. 



Source:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/11/29/18315109/feds-raid-ald-burke-s-city-hall-ward-offices
&
http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=4a77cc0f-b2ac-45bd-
b42f-75b6082115c7
&
https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-met-ald-ed-burke-indicted-20190530-story.htm

December 3. 2018 Convicted and Sentenced

Rajinder Sachdeva, an IT department manager for the suburban bus agency Pace, was sentenced
to a year and a day in federal prison after pleading guilty to soliciting bribes and gratuities by an
agent of a federally funded organization. Prosecutors said he used his position to corruptly
demand and accept nearly $300,000 in bribes and kickbacks from IT contractors.

Source:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-manager-pace-bus-service-sentenced-year-and-day-federal-prison-
pocketing-nearly

December 13. 2018 Fired

Former Southern Illinois University (SIU) President Randy J. Dunn improperly hired late
Chancellor Carlo Montemagno’s daughter and son-in-law as well as SIU’s vice president for
academic affairs, according to a report by the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General.
According to the Daily Egyptian, Dunn entered a separation agreement with the Board of
Trustees last July after it was discovered that he coordinated with SIU Edwardsville
administrators and legislators in an attempt to dissolve the university system. The agreement
 !16

stated Dunn would be entitled to a visiting professor position at SIU for at least 18 months unless
an external agency made a finding of his wrongdoing. The agreement also stated Dunn’s
employment would cease immediately and automatically upon the issuance of any findings
showing he violated SIU System or Illinois policy. The Office of the Executive Inspector General
recommended Dunn not be rehired within the SIU system due to the violation of his contract.
Source:
https://www2.illinois.gov/oeig/investigations/Documents/17-02333%20Dunn,%20Thomas%20and%20SIU-C.pdf
&
https://dailyegyptian.com/92707/news/inspector-general-report-finds-randy-dunn-mishandled-multiple-hirings/