*** Click here to read the indictment. Click here to read the press release. ***
* 10:53 am - From the Tribune…
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago said it will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. today to announce public corruption charges. Sources say it is expected to be an indictment of an elected official.
No speculation in comments of any kind, please. [Comments have been opened, but be very careful.] We’ll all know soon enough.
* From the US Attorney’s office…
Please be advised that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago plans to issue two press releases this afternoon regarding two separate criminal cases — one involving public corruption, and the other involving racketeering activity, including armed robberies, arson and illegal gambling — and will hold a press conference at 2:00 p.m. today, Thursday May 28, 2009, in the U.S. Attorney’s Press Conference room…
Copies of the criminal charges and the press releases will be distributed via email this afternoon before the press conference and hard copies will also be available in the press conference room, which will open to members of the media at 1:00 p.m.
There will be no court appearances today in connection with either of these matters.
* You might want to keep your eye on the Twitter accounts of the two newspaper reporters who cover the federal courts…
* Natasha Korecki (Sun-Times)
* Jeff Coen (Tribune)
* We’ll have live video coverage of the 2 o’clock press conference via CBS2. Click here at 2 o’clock
*** 11:24 am *** From Natasha Korecki’s Twitter page…
charges to be announced against a chicago alderman later today
*** 11:27 am *** Sun-Times says it’s Ike Carothers…
Federal authorities later today plan to announce charges against Ald. Ike Carrothers (29th), the chairman of the City Council’s police and fire committee, sources said.
Background…
In 2007 the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald subpoenaed Carothers demanding documents including seven years worth of aldermanic expense records; 29th Ward zoning changes; ordinances introduced by Carothers, and correspondence between Carothers and the mayor’s office regarding zoning changes. The subpoena further demanded information on comments made and votes taken by Carothers since January 2001 before two City Council committees.
*** 11:37 am *** Word around the federal building is that Ald. Carothers allegedly took cash for a zoning change. We’ll know more at 2 o’clock.
*** 1:51 pm *** From the US Attorney’s office…
Chicago Ald. Isaac S. Carothers (29th Ward) and a real estate developer who sought to transform a 50-acre former rail yard and industrial site on the city’s west side into a residential and commercial neighborhood, were indicted today on federal fraud and bribery charges, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
The developer, Calvin Boender, allegedly paid for approximately $40,000 in home improvements to Carothers’ residence and provided him with meals and tickets to professional sporting events, which Carothers allegedly illegally accepted, in exchange for Carothers’ official acts supporting successful zoning changes for Galewood Yards, which was the largest undeveloped tract of land within the city limits.
Approximately $6 million more was made from the sale of 25 acres of the land than would have been realized without the zoning changes, and Boender allegedly personally profited half of that amount, or approximately $3 million, according to an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury today.
*** Click here to read the indictment. Click here to read the press release. ***
* From the indictment…
It was further part of the scheme that in order to disguise and conceal the extent of Grand Central Center’s campaign contributions to defendant CAROTHERS, defendant BOENDER directed an employee of Grand Central Center to make a $1,500 donation to the New 29th Ward Democratic Organization and reimbursed that employee for that contribution.
It was further part of the scheme that when defendant CAROTHERS asked defendant BOENDER for his financial support of Candidate A’s campaign, BOENDER, in order to curry favor with defendant CAROTHERS, made campaign contributions to Candidate A in excess of the maximum allowed under federal election law. In order to disguise and conceal the fact that he was making campaign contributions to Candidate A in excess of the maximum allowed under federal election allow, BOENDER directed at least two individuals to make $2,000 donations to Candidate A and reimbursed those individuals for those donations.
But passing a campaign finance reform law will solve all our problems, right?