* Tribune…

Another convicted Chicago alderman is headed to prison.

Former Ald. Willie Cochran was sentenced to one year in prison Monday by U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso for using a ward charity fund like his personal piggy bank, including to pay for gambling trips, fancy meals and accessories for his Mercedes. […]

Cochran, 66, admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors that he stole more than $14,000 from the 20th Ward charity he created ostensibly to fund activities for needy children and provide assistance to others in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods he represented.

Instead, Cochran admitted using the fund to pay for personal expenses, including college tuition for his daughter, cash withdrawals from casino ATMs and the purchase of “items for his personal residence,” according to the plea agreement.

* NBC 5…

Judge Jorge Alonso sentenced the former 20th Ward alderman in a hearing Monday, during which Cochran was surrounded by dozens of supporters as he asked for leniency.

Alonso denied Cochran’s attorney’s earlier request not to send him to prison, saying probation and home confinement “would not protect the public from future crimes.”

Attorney Christopher T. Grohman argued earlier this month against prison time for the 67-year-old, telling a federal judge that previous prison sentences for nearly three dozen Chicago City council members have “not done anything to curb Chicago’s tidal wave of aldermanic corruption cases.” […]

Following Cochran’s prison sentence, the judge ordered two years of supervised release.

* WBEZ…

“I am better than this,” Cochran told the judge before receiving his sentence. “My human frailties have brought me shame.”

In handing down the sentence, Alonso characterized Cochran’s behavior as “calculated” and said, even though he did not plead guilty to the earlier bribery and extortion charges, the former alderman committed a “breach of the public trust.”

“Unfortunately, like others before him, he fell into temptation,” Alonso said. He added: “He had everything. There was no need, there was no poverty or desperation.”

* Sun-Times…

Assistant U.S Attorney Heather McShain told Alonso that the alderman’s victims were reluctant to cooperate with investigators out of fear of retribution.

In arguing for prison time, McShain cited legendary Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, who wrote that corrupt Chicago politicians always ask: “Where’s mine?”

In court, before he was sentenced, Cochran apologized, saying, “I am better than this.” The former alderman talked about his family and good works and said it was an “honor” to serve. He called himself a community builder and asked for “a second chance.”

By sentencing Cochran to a year and a day — rather than just a year — the judge gave Cochran a break, so that the former alderman will actually serve about 10 months behind bars, since credits for good conduct time in the federal system apply to any sentence more than one year.