Kelly Heads to Jail … Best Yet to Come this September?
Blagojevich friend and fundraiser Chris Kelly today was sentenced to 37 months in prison on federal tax fraud charges related to the use of company funds to pay gambling debts.
But perhaps most interesting to Cook County taxpayers should be Kelly’s upcoming court appearance in September on “charges charged with paying an unnamed consultant $450,000 in kickbacks to get $8.5 million in inflated roofing contracts from two airlines at O’Hare International Airport.”
Kickbacks and O’Hare Airport? Hard to believe these kickbacks could’ve been arranged without the knowledge of at least somebody at City Hall…
Of course, a quick glance at the contributions from Kelly’s roofing company, BCI Commercial Roofing, shows a bunch of political cash contributed to Cook County insiders, including Mayor Daley and Alderman Ed Burke.
And is it a coincidence that Kelly’s attorney — Michael Monico — is the same attorney used by longtime political insider Ed “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak in his very own corruption trial earlier this year?
You can draw you own conclusion after reading this story of an alleged shakedown of a Hollywood movie producer involved in a deal regarding the Teachers Retirement System. According to court testimony, both Kelly and Vrdolyak (along with Stuart Levine) were connected in this plot to get cash in exchange for awarding a hefty state contract.
Nobody was charged in that specific deal, but … when the same names keep popping up together in federal court, it certainly makes you wonder.
So, while we say “goodbye” to Chris Kelly for now … he will emerge in federal court in September so we can hear more about this roofing contractor deal involving contract at Mayor Daley’s “baby” — O’Hare Airport.
(In the interest of full disclosure, we add that Vrdolyak is a longtime political opponent of Commissioner Tony Peraica, who hosts this blog. Vrdolyak was the largest single contributor to Michael LaPidus, who challenged Peraica in the Republican Primary for Lyons Township Committeeman in 2006.)
‘Fast Eddie’ Off the Illinois Attorney Rolls
The Chicago Tribune reports:
The Illinois Supreme Court on Monday struck former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak’s name from the roll of attorneys licensed to practice law in Illinois at his request. The action comes after he pleaded guilty in federal court in November to a felony charge of conspiring to commit mail fraud.
If you recall, “Fast Eddie” somehow avoided jail time - despite his guilty plea. For those of us who are used to Cook County politics - we weren’t surprised.
But perhaps the more important question is how active Eddie will be in the upcoming elections. We know he is a vehement opponent of Tony Peraica’s reform efforts - even supporting Peraica’s opponent (Mike LaPidus) for Lyons Township GOP Committeeman in the 2006 elections.
And we’ve already seen how the Vrdolyak-supported LaPidus has already begun to stir up trouble.
We expect Mr. Vrdolyak (as well as various corrupt and troubled special interests in the Western Suburbs) to oppose our reform efforts - but they should know that we are ready to expose each and every one of them, and their links to the corrupt Cook County political system that continues to embarrass us and cost us millions in tax dollars.
KADNER: ‘Fast Eddie a Disgrace’
Phil Kadner hits it on the head with this article:
“Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak, who spent much of his life undermining the public’s confidence in government, has done it again.
Vrdolyak, a former power on the Chicago City Council and former chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, was fined $50,000 and sentenced to five years’ probation in a real estate scam that could’ve sent him to a federal prison for more than three years.
In taverns throughout the 10th Ward folks had to be hoisting beers Thursday night, laughing and shouting, “Eddie’s done it again.”
That’s the real problem with guys like Vrdolyak. They become heroes to Chicagoans. They’re so smart, so slick, that even when they get caught red-handed or on an FBI wire, they manage to come out smelling like a rose.
The mopes of the world are the honest guys, the ones who don’t cut deals behind closed doors and play by the rules. They don’t get elected to nothing, don’t get any city contracts and, should they ever be in need of a government job, can’t find one.
Judgment Day Near for Fast Eddie
Federal prosecutors made their case against longtime political insider Ed “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak this week - urging Judge Milton Shadur to put Eddie in jail for 41 months. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that, in the memo filed this week, federal prosecutors said Vrdolyak “lived a ’second, largely hidden life’ of crime.”
The statement summed up Vrdolyak’s actions in their conspiracy to split a $1.5 million kickback from the sale of a $15 million Gold Coast building belonging to the former Chicago Medical School, now the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
Vrdolyak, of course, has long been in local headlines for his public political exploits. He has been active in Cook County politics on both sides of the aisle - even supporting the candidacy of Michael LaPidus, who ran as a Republican against Tony Peraica for Lyons Township GOP Committeeman in 2006. (If Vrdolyak is convicted, will LaPidus return his tainted $1,000 contribution?)
For now, it’s a wait-and-see game to learn how long Fast Eddie will have to live behind bars.
-
Get Mobile Updates
