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* 10:36 am - Holy moly. The former executive director of a prominent prison watchdog group has been indicted. From a US Attorney press release…

An Illinois prison consultant was added as a defendant in a pending federal criminal case alleging that a former head of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) received approximately $50,000 in illegal kickbacks. The new defendant, Michael J. Mahoney, allegedly paid the kickbacks while representing vendors that had multi-million-dollar contracts with the state prison agency. Mahoney was charged together with Donald N. Snyder, Jr., who was IDOC director from 1999 until early 2003, in a six-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Mahoney and others allegedly were involved in paying kickbacks totaling approximately $20,000, out of the approximately $50,000 total, to Snyder.

Mahoney, 63, of Cassopolis, Mich., and formerly of Chicago, until 2002 was the Executive Director of, and a registered lobbyist for, unnamed “Association A,” a not-for-profit prison watchdog organization. He was charged with three counts of mail fraud.

That unnamed watchdog group is the John Howard Association, which fights for prisoners’ rights. What a state we live in. I’ll have documents in a bit.

* 10:42 am - And here they are…

* Press release
* Indictment

* 1:49 pm - The Washington Post’s Chris Cilllizza believes that retiring Republican Jerry Weller’s seat is the fourth most likely in the country to switch hands to the opposing party.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 10:39 am

Comments

Not that I condone this activity - I really don’t, but $20K out of a total of $50K seems like a small potato deal in the overall scheme of Illinois politics and apparent corruption these days.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 10:54 am
So all the hype about prison overcrowding I’ve been hearing lately is just spin bought and paid for by prisons consultants? The hype about prison system employees not get paid enough? Poor working conditions? All just spin to get more taxpayer money?

I figured as much. Can’t trust anyone these days, they all want to get in you pockets.

Comment by Foop Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 11:03 am
Like Anonymous @ 10:54 says, small potatoes. Just wait till Fitz ties all the ribbons together with Rezko, Levine, Kelly, etc. Oh I almost forgot the ringleader Blagojevich.

Comment by Eye in Sky Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 11:16 am
If you consider yourself a good government type, it doesn’t get much worse than this.

Comment by Cal Skinner Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 11:20 am
John Howard Association does not care about the widows and the families of correctional personnel murdered in the line of duty.

Comment by Correctional Officers Memorial Lest We Forget. Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 11:52 am
But if they were committing crimes, like Director Donnie, they have to face the music.

Comment by Correctional Officers Memorial Lest We Forget. Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 11:55 am
Personally, I like Donnie. If he is guilty of this scheme, I give up.

Comment by Shelbyville Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 12:43 pm
JHA was the big deal interest/ advocacy group in the corrections sphere and pulled a lot of weight in the opinion arena. This will be a huge blow to their credibility and will obscure what good they have done.

Comment by Cool hand Luke Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 12:48 pm
I liked him, too. It’s incredibly disheartening.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 12:48 pm
Mike Mahoney……..????

Geez. For years and years I’ve thought that he was one of the few good guys out there.

A lifetime of altruism and devotion ruined — for chump change? Incomprehensible.

Presumed innocent, of course. But the very thought of him being indicted leaves me completely stunned.

Terrible news.

Comment by Dooley Dudright Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 12:49 pm
Nothing in the “Land of Lincoln” shocks me anymore.

But obviously there is an inherent conflict of interest between being an executive of a watchdog organization and at the same time being a lobyyist seeking business with an organization you are supposed to be “watching.” Any self-respecting civic organization should have rules prohibiting potential conflicts between their mission and other business ventures of theier employees.

But maybe the JHA didn’t know that Mahoney was lobbying Illinois prisons for business while he was Executive Director.It will be interesting to see what the JHA has to say from a PR standpoint. I would expect JHA to deny that it had any knowledge of Mahoney’s sideline business activities in Illinois - presumably their assertion of ignorance will be true. Maybe JHA and Mahoney parted company because of his sdieline business ventures???

Comment by Captain America Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 1:07 pm
Gotta keep an eye on those nonprofits no matter how saintly and fiscally responsible they claim to be.

Wonder how much Mahoney made. Wonder who the big contributors are.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 1:27 pm
I worked for donnie he was an ass or just let the people around him be.

Comment by MIDSTATE Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 1:43 pm
I’ve known Mike Mahoney since 1981. I am terribly disappointed if this is true. Mike is one of the guys whose word you could take to the bank. Damn!

Comment by Nelson Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 2:15 pm
I would encourage all of you to remember that an indictment is not a conviction. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Let’s remember the Mike Mahoney is a man of integrity and character, and consider that in all of this.

Comment by Justice Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 2:34 pm
“So all the hype about prison overcrowding I’ve been hearing lately is just spin bought and paid for by prisons consultants? The hype about prison system employees not get paid enough? Poor working conditions? All just spin to get more taxpayer money?”

I wouldn’t go that far. Looks like a case of the “advocate” making $$$ working on a problem that is never solved.

Talk to a few guards and you’ll find out what’s going on in the prisons. Example: Two guards are required to be present in certain areas at all times to watch the prisoners and each other’s backs. This means three at that location during a shift, so one can go to the bathroom, eat lunch, etc. In some of the prisons there are only two, and it’s pretty common for one of them to be on a double shift (read: very tired).

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 2:37 pm
Rich Miller wrote, “The Washington Post’s Chris Cilllizza believes that retiring Republican Jerry Weller’s seat is the fourth most likely in the country to switch hands to the opposing party.”

THE opposing party? There are at least two opposing parties with candidates in the race.

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 3:59 pm
What jumps out at me is the fact that these charges concern actions that happened more than five years ago and are left over from the Ryan administration. And they’re just now getting around to handing down (or is it handing up?) indictments? At this rate, Blago could be well into a third, maybe even fourth (ack!) term before his turn comes.

Comment by Lainer Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:03 pm
C’mon Squid

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:11 pm
Squid, when you prove that your party has any impact whatsoever in this state, then you’ll get more respect. Nitpicking here won’t do it.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:12 pm
Not a surprise anymore. Another day another indictment. It has become the only consistency with the Blago crew.

- Lainer - Give it up. You can’t possibly be trying to blame these problems on leftovers from G Ryan. That one doesn’t work anymore.

Comment by Papa Legba Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:26 pm
Rich Miller wrote, “Squid, when you prove that your party has any impact whatsoever in this state, then you’ll get more respect. Nitpicking here won’t do it.”

MORE respect? How about ANY respect? The article implied that there was only one party fielding a candidate in opposition; and that’s just factually incorrect. You need not respect us in order to recognize our existence. No matter what the impact, there ARE two opposition parties, not only one–that’s just the plain truth; and I’m not quite sure why it seems to bother some people so much to admit it (I do suspect that in many cases, however, that it is purely political.)

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:35 pm
Squid, go win some races.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:38 pm
Incidentally, I correctly predicted that Rich Whitney would earn more at least twice the amount needed in order to legally establish the Green Party in Illinois in 2006, and people gave me flak about that then. They said that it would never happen and that I was dreaming. They have been objectively proven wrong, but now those same naysayers are trying to say that it was merely a flash in the pan and that it won’t be repeated.

With more than a dozen Green Party candidates running for Congress in Illinois, my next prediction is that you WILL see at least one or two Greens in elected office, at the state or federal levels, within the next two election cycles (Including this one.) Anyone that wants to disagree, go right ahead; and we’ll see again.

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:42 pm
Rich Miller, “Squid, go win some races.”

Woo hoo! Thanks Rich. It’s nice to know that you’re backing us. Awesome! Just kidding.

In any case, you’re right, we DO need to win some races; and we’re planning to do exactly that.

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:47 pm
Mike Mahoney is a good guy and I’m sorry to see this happen. But he has made a bunch of money traveling around the country collecting consulting fees. He’s made quite a bit in Cook County recently too, working on federal court cases regarding jail overcrowding and the conditions at the Juvy home. He’s done some good work, but he didn’t get into the business for the sake of truth, justice, and the American Way.

I hope this serves as a wake up call to those of you who believe the John Howard Association, the People’s Law Office, and various other goo-goo groups are in this game for the betterment of humanity. Don’t get me wrong, there are some true-believers associated with these groups that have done good things, but a lot of these folks are in it for the $$$$$ and they’re getting fat at the public trough.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 4:58 pm
Papa, I’m not trying to defend Blago in any way or blame his problems on Ryan! I’m just expressing some impatience with the pace of these proceedings. As I was saying, if Fitz is ONLY NOW getting around to obtaining indictments for stuff that happened on Ryan’s watch, I had better not hold my breath waiting for indictments against the Current Non-Occupant.

Comment by Lainer Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 5:01 pm
Read the story again… the case involves stuff that went on between ‘99 and ‘03. Mahoney’s tenure with the John Howard Association ended in ‘02. Can’t blame this one on Blago, as much as one might like to.

Comment by Lainer Friday, Oct 5, 07 @ 5:08 pm
He’s not even been tried yet…..let’s hold of the I can’t believe it’s until a jury takes a look at any evidence the U.S. Attorney has accumuluated. I’ve known Mahoney for 30 years ( although I haven’t seen him in at least 10) and I just can’t believe this one. Don Udstun …no suprise…..Ron Swanson no suprise, but Mahoney…this is a tough one to believe.

Comment by downhereforyears Saturday, Oct 6, 07 @ 3:32 pm
As for Wellers seat…we deserve losing it. We need to rid this party of the arrogant….hypocrites like Weller….build a republican farm team devote some time to recruiting for the future…not just next year and build something to be proud of again.

Comment by downhereforyears Saturday, Oct 6, 07 @ 3:38 pm
This story is significant to me because it shows that the US Atty will keep following leads and bring indictments if they have cooperating witnesses, no matter how long it takes. When did the Safe Roads investigation begin? 1999?

For those who have doubts about the rumors and the investigations surrounding the current administration - keep this in mind. I think the Governor’s friends are in for some rough times.

Comment by beavis Sunday, Oct 7, 07 @ 11:53 pm
I think that for those of us who know Mike Mahoney (Dooley Dudright, Nelson, Justice)know that this can’t possibly be true. Dudley Dudright made perfect sence. A lifetime of altruism and devotion ruined — for chump change? Incomprehensible. Two pleaded guilty and are now trying to lighten there sentence by bringing others down. Plain, simple, most of all sad!

Comment by No Way Monday, Oct 8, 07 @ 2:50 pm
Mike Mahoney is a nice person but he has been running game on the state and Cook County for years! His cohorts and him have just run the biggest game on the County-like the monitor he recommended to the ACLU for the Juvenile Detention Center, she wrote negative reports for over a year without ever offering a solution and now is second of command. Makes one wonder if she did this to assure herself a job.No one ever watches the watchdogs.

Comment by Anon Monday, Oct 8, 07 @ 7:02 pm
M Mahoney is a stand up guy. I’ve known him and his work for years. Its just like #32/No way said- they are just trying to lighten their sentence.

Further, the Cook Co Juvy Center is a DUMP! Sure the montior wrote scathing reports- but they’re real and still are. Its a dive, kids are molested, beaten, and deprived. What do you think the monitor should do? walk through the halls with blinders on?

Things need to change there before Cook Co has to pay out a huge settlement r/t a lawsuit.

Comment by you just don't know Wednesday, Oct 10, 07 @ 6:54 pm