U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall sentenced ex-Chicago alderman Ed Burke to two years behind bars on Monday, also with imposing a $2 million fine and a year of supervised release. Kendall concluded that Burke's long public service career and acts of charity weighed in his favor against the 13 bribery, racketeering and extortion counts jurors convicted him of last December, Courthouse News reports. He was acquitted on only one charge federal prosecutors laid out in his 2019 indictment. The charges against Burke stemmed from four episodes between 2016 and 2018 when prosecutors say he abused his power in City Hall. Three incidents involved Burke trying to bribe property and business owners into hiring his law firm. The fourth was when prosecutors say he threatened the management of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History to get his goddaughter a job. Attorneys debated how much money was implicated by Burke's bribery and extortion efforts; Kendall ultimately settled on a figure of $215,877.07.
Burke accrued the political influence he needed to carry out his crimes over decades, being the longest-serving city councilor in Chicago history. His corruption charges echo the 23 bribery and racketeering counts currently faced by former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. Burke worked closely with former Chicago city councilor and zoning committee chair Danny Solis, who became an FBI informant when the government investigated Burke and Madigan. Solis secretly recorded conversations with Burke and Madigan in exchange for a sweetheart deferred prosecution deal for his own corruption allegations. Burke hoped to delay sentencing, or even get a new trial, pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision dealing with a bribery law relevant to his case. However, Kendall ruled that Burke's sentencing hearing would proceed as planned. The judge tossed Burke's prior motion for acquittal or new trial. Prosecutors sought up to 10 years behind bars for the ex-alderman in their sentencing memorandum this month; Burke and his defense team asked Kendall to impose no prison time.
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