* Full indictment here

* Full press release here

————————————————-

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has scheduled a 2 o’clock press conference for today “to announce new criminal charges in an ongoing public corruption investigation.”

Participants will include: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Kenneth T. Lag, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago; and James Vandenberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of Investigations for the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago.

Check back later for more. No comments yet. I’ll open them when we know something.

While we’re waiting for Fitzmas (and the scuttlebutt right now is that it may be city related), I forgot to point out an important aspect of this story about how a federal judge had dismissed charges against Nick Hurtgen.

Grady also found that the mail and wire fraud charges against Hurtgen didn’t specify exactly what the former investment banker did that was illegal.

One of the issues addressed in George Ryan’s appeal is that no actual statutes were violated in his mail fraud convictions.

*** UPDATE *** It’s Al Sanchez.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Sun-Times…

Federal authorities have indicted Al Sanchez, a former top aide to Mayor Daley, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Sanchez, a key leader of the Hispanic Democratic Organization, was the mayor’s Streets & Sanitation Department commissioner from 1999 until 2005.

They’re getting very close to the top with this one. Comments are now open.

While we await the official word, here is some background on Sanchez from a Sun-Times story about last December’s indictment of John Resa, an HDO coordinator…

The indictment reveals the feds are probing hiring and promotion fraud under HDO, created in the early 1990s and now about 500 members strong. Though Resa is charged with one count of lying, the indictment lays out HDO’s structure, its voter outreach efforts and an allegation of a broader scheme to reward its volunteers with jobs and promotions.

“This is part of a bigger investigation that does allege a scheme,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins said.

Collins said Resa headed an HDO political army made up of 70 to 80 volunteers.

When Resa wanted to reward them with city jobs or promotions, he went to a former high-ranking city official for help, identified as “Individual A,” who headed HDO’s southeast division, according to the charges. Sources say the individual is former Streets and Sanitation commissioner and HDO lieutenant Al Sanchez, sources say.

Sanchez sponsored Resa and other Resa relatives who got city jobs, according to a clout list kept by the mayor’s patronage director. The list was introduced as evidence in this summer’s City Hall hiring trial of the mayor’s former patronage chief Robert Sorich.

More background on Sanchez and HDO…

On paper, HDO was formed on March 1, 1993. But insiders say that HDO started with Daley’s 1989 election.

Former foot soldiers in Ald. Edward Vrdolyak’s once-mighty 10th Ward organization, which disbanded when the alderman switched parties, crowded the back room, the former volunteer said.

And former Vrdolyak precinct captain Al Sanchez organized the “standing room only” gathering, the former volunteer said.

Degnan’s message was simple.

“‘We’re going to build a Hispanic organization like you have never seen,’” he said, according to the former volunteer.

“That was the inception of HDO. Al [Sanchez] came up with the name, Hispanic Democratic Organization. And Tim said, ‘That’s beautiful.’ “

*** UPDATE 3 *** From Fitzgerald’s office…

A retired commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation and a Chicago police officer who has held various city jobs, both of whom were high-level leaders of the Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO), a citywide political campaign organization, were indicted today on federal charges in connection with the ongoing investigation of city hiring and promotion fraud. The retired commissioner, Alfred Sanchez, a principal organizer for HDO, was charged with engaging in a systematic fraud scheme to provide city jobs, promotions and other employment benefits to induce and reward political campaign work. The second defendant, Aaron Delvalle, who assisted Sanchez in coordinating HDO activities and who received immunity from prosecution relating to this investigation, was charged with perjury for allegedly lying to the federal grand jury about his HDO activities.

Sanchez, 59, of Chicago, was charged with nine counts of mail fraud, and Delvalle, 34, of Chicago, was charged with one count of perjury in a 10-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury. Both defendants will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.

*** UPDATE 4 *** Check out “Individual A” in this one…

Sanchez alone was charged with engaging in a fraud scheme beginning no later than 1994 through early 2005. As part of the alleged scheme, Sanchez and uncharged co-schemers Individual A ( who was the overall leader of HDO), Robert Sorich, Jack Drumgould, Delvalle, Patrick Slattery, Roberto Medina and various other city employees and officials, engaged in the following conduct:

o while he was employed at I&I and Streets and Sanitation, Sanchez and certain co-schemers engaged in a systematic effort to provide public financial benefits, in the form of city jobs, promotions, and other employment benefits, in order to induce and reward campaign work to benefit HDO and other private political organizations;

o Sanchez and other co-schemers corrupted the city’s personnel process by awarding city job-related benefits in non-policymaking positions to applicants selected by Sanchez and IGA officials by: falsifying and causing the falsification of ratings forms; signing and causing the signing of fraudulent Shakman certifications; and otherwise granting preferential treatment;

o in the case of “mass” hiring sequences, Sanchez negotiated a certain portion of the total available positions with IGA officials in order to award the positions to individuals selected by Sanchez on the basis of their work on behalf of HDO. Applying political and other considerations, IGA selected the remainder of the candidates for the particular hiring sequence; and

o the individual HDO Southeast participants who received job-related benefits included individuals who provided Sanchez with various personal services and things of value, including home repair work, snow removal, lawn care and yard work.

*** UPDATE 5 ***

* Full indictment here

* Full press release here

*** UPDATE 6 *** More…

The co-schemers allegedly tracked and maintained records relating to city job-related requests on behalf of HDO participants, and officials of HDO North and HDO South also submitted requests for city employment benefits at Streets and Sanitation to IGA officials and Sanchez on behalf of other HDO volunteers.

When he was an I&I official, Sanchez allegedly caused false and fraudulent ratings forms to be signed in order to favor his selections in the award of city job-related benefits. Sanchez and Medina, while at I&I, signed false and fraudulent Shakman certifications, attesting that political considerations played no role in I&I’s hiring sequences, when in fact, they knew that certain hiring decisions were based, in substantial part, on the applicant’s political participation.

*** UPDATE 7 *** Still more…

At Streets and Sanitation, Sanchez and Drumgould allegedly caused certain individual HDO Southeast participants to become eligible to be interviewed for certain hiring sequences, even on occasions when the positions were closed to applications from the general public, and receipt of applications was not permitted under City hiring guidelines.

*** UPDATE 8 *** Sanchez is looking at up to 25 years if convicted…

If convicted, eight of the nine mail fraud counts against Sanchez carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while a single count carries a maximum term of five years in prison. If convicted of perjury, Delvalle faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed.

*** UPDATE 9 *** From the indictment, more on the identity of “Individual A”…

Between 1993 and 2000, Individual A was a full-time salaried employee of the City, employed at IGA. From approximately 1995 through 2000, Individual A was a high-ranking official of IGA. […]

From approximately 1995 through 2000, [Robert] Sorich reported to Individual A.

*** UPDATE 10 *** The feds are spelling it differently, but an Aaron Del Valle ran for alderman this year against Ald. Danny Solis and was backed by Sanchez and described as a former aide to Sanchez and active in the HDO. He’s described here as taking a leave of absence from the Chicago police department.

*** UPDATE 11 *** A bit more background…

Del Valle got trounced in that aldermanic race, but there was at least one other HDO member in there as well, Joe Acevedo, the brother of the state Rep. And one of Mike Madigan’s lieutenants, Mike Kasper, was working to keep Cuahutemoc Morfin on the ballot in that district. Morfin was endorsed by former Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, who was knocked off the ballot because he’s a convicted felon. Morfin finished second.

The theory is that HDO and Co. threw a bunch of different guys at Solis to force a runoff. But Solis squeaked by with 51.39 percent of the vote.

*** UPDATE 12 *** Fitzgerald’s spokesman Randall Samborn just confirmed that the “Aaron Delvalle” who was indicted for perjury today is the same HDO-backed “Aaron Del Valle” who ran for alderman this year.

Also, FYI, Aaron Del Valle is not related to City Clerk Miguel del Valle. In fact, Miguel got mighty upset during the campaign that Aaron was using yard signs that looked just like his.

*** UPDATE 13 *** From the AP…

Sanchez and Delvalle are the 47th and 48th defendants charged since 2004 in the continuing investigation. Of those defendants, 44 have been convicted, one is dead, and rest of cases are pending.

The accusations against Sanchez surfaced when fired city worker Gerry Sarussi, 50, said he helped three employees with ties to Sanchez get truck-driving licenses without the required training.

Sarussi told the city’s Human Resources Board that he certified in early 2002 that the men were qualified to drive trucks because a supervisor told him that “Al wanted it done.”

Sarussi, who was on disability leave in 2002 when he made the certification and is fighting his dismissal, has said he repeatedly lied to city investigators and hid any connection to Sanchez because a supervisor told him to shield the commissioner and the Hispanic Democratic Organization.

*** UPDATE 14 *** From Chicago Public Radio…

[audio:cityroom_20070322_sglinton_U.S..mp3]