The federal roundup continues
Thursday, Nov 18, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jon Seidel…
A suburban businessman admitted Wednesday he rewarded then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval with thousands of dollars for Sandoval’s help speeding up the sale of property in McCook in a scheme that also involved former Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski.
Vahooman “Shadow” Mirkhaef, who ran Cub Terminal in McCook, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy during a hearing held by video before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland. He also agreed in his 18-page plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
The judge did not set a sentencing date for Mirkhaef.
Mirkhaef’s plea deal refers to a “Public Official A.” A source identified that person as Tobolski, who also served as mayor of McCook. A lawyer for Tobolski declined to comment Wednesday. Tobolski pleaded guilty to an extortion conspiracy last year and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. His sentencing is also on hold.
…Adding… Forgot to post this one…
The man who led southwest suburban Crestwood for nearly a decade admitted Wednesday not only that he took a secret $5,000 cash payment from a red-light camera company’s representative, but that he did so while promising tickets there would “creep up higher.”
Louis Presta even bragged about the higher percentage of red-light traffic violations approved by Crestwood and issued to drivers in February 2018, telling the person with an ownership stake in SafeSpeed LLC, “You got a new sheriff in town.”
Those details were revealed when Presta, 71, pleaded guilty Wednesday to corruption charges and told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin he resigned his position with the village Tuesday night. Crestwood lawyer Burt Odelson said a special meeting has been set for Nov. 23 to try to pick an acting mayor who would serve through the next municipal election in April 2023.
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:31 am:
==“Public Official A.”==
Looks like Tobolski joins Blago and Madigan on the Public Official A Club.
- Ashland Adam - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 11:00 am:
Stories like this just leave me w a sense of wonder, that apparently smart and sophisticated people make these choices, and for what? Small potatoes, ruining names and reputations forever, blotting out whatever good they may have done; as these are the things for which they will be remembered.
- Downstate - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 11:06 am:
Easy layup for some state legislator - introduce a bill that dictates the length of time for the yellow light on any red light camera in the state.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 12:18 pm:
Louie, Louie…What have you done? For a few bucks, you lose an easy gig and now you’re looking at possible time.
Dipping one’s beak often backfires spectacularly.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 1:30 pm:
Can there be more folks waiting to be sentenced then others even awaiting trial?
- From DaZoo - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 3:07 pm:
@Downstate - some legislators talked about doing that a few years ago. But IDOT was against it because there are already national standards that are included in State policy. The issue arises (and did years ago with the first red light cameras) when those times are adjusted outside of the standard window without a good engineering explanation.
There’s quasi-joke on this… Who knows the MUTCD better than a traffic engineer? A lawyer.
If an agency doesn’t set the signal timing to within the MUTCD standard, they usually get clobbered in court when there’s a crash at the intersection.
To the post…
With the rise of speeding and aggressive driving leading to more fatal crashes, it’s too bad we can’t use more automated warnings/enforcement tools. But the above examples of greed and shady dealings just ruin the shaky trust in these tools use.