Federal trial scuttled for Sen. Emil Jones III
Thursday, Dec 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A month before his retrial on bribery charges, state Sen. Emil Jones III has agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution deal with prosecutors that will leave him with no conviction as long as he admits to certain illegal conduct and pays a fine.
The agreement was announced at a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood and scuttles a trial that had been set for Jan. 12.
Under the terms of the deal, Jones would pay a fine of $6,800, agree to stay out of legal trouble, and make admissions about his meetings with FBI mole Omar Maani and agree that his later statements to the FBI about how much Maani paid Jones’ intern were false.
If Jones lives up to his end of the agreement, the charges against him will be dropped in December 2026.
The case was flawed from the start. He never took the money offered by a government mole, who himself admitted on the stand to passing bribes to important people through other important people (none of whom were charged). The government also used some questionable tactics against Jones, including trying to paint him as having a gay relationship.
* Sun-Times…
When Wood asked Jones whether he wanted to go forward with the arrangement, Jones said “absolutely.”
Federal prosecutors in Chicago struck a similar deal in October with ex-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, whose own trial also ended with a hung jury.
