 |
Operation Greylord was an investigation conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Chicago Police Department Internal Affairs Division and the Illinois State Police into corruption in the judiciary of Cook County, Illinois (the Chicago jurisdiction). The FBI named the investigation "Operation Greylord" after the curly wigs worn by British judges. [1]
The 3-year, 8-month federal undercover operation took place in the 1980s, with the cooperation of some state and local law enforcement and judicial officials. After the end of the undercover phase, the Greylord trials lasted ten years. Over 92 public officials were indicted (almost all in federal court), and most eventually were convicted, either by guilty pleas or trials.
The undercover phase included a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney, as well as numerous FBI agents and cooperating local law enforcement officers. Cook County Judge Thaddeus Kowalski also cooperated with authorities even though he knew his cooperation might endanger his career. [2] Recently elected downstate Judge Brocton Lockwood operated undercover in the Chicago Traffic Court. [3] In addition, Assistant State's Attorney Terrence Hake went undercover in the Criminal Division of the Cook County Circuit Court, initially as a prosecutor and later as a defense attorney (although actually on the FBI payroll). [4]
Key undercover FBI agents and lawyers included: David Grossman, David Ries and Hake. As a Cook County prosecutor, Hake complained about the bribery and corruption in the Murder and Sexual Assault preliminary hearing courtroom in Chicago. [5] The FBI and United States Attorney's Office learned of Hake's complaint and recruited him to pose as a corrupt prosecutor and later as a bribe-paying criminal defense attorney. Lamar Jordan, David Benscoter, Marie Dyson, William C. Megary, and Robert Farmer were the principal FBI case agents and supervisors during the investigation. Six Internal Revenue Service agents also played key roles in tracking the money flows, including Dennis Czurylo and Bill Thullen. [6]
During the next decade, four United States Attorneys — Thomas P. Sullivan, Dan K. Webb, Anton R. Valukas and Fred Foreman—supervised the investigations and prosecutions. First Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Reidy and Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) Charles Sklarsky, Scott Lassar, Scott Mendeloff and Candace J. Fabri led many of the prosecutions. In 1985, Valukus and AUSA James Schweitzer indicted 22 corrupt court personnel, including Judge Raymond Sodini, who presided over the corruption in his courtroom at Chicago Police Headquarters.
The first listening device ever placed in a judge's chambers in the United States occurred in the undercover phase, when after hearing tapes recorded by undercover agent/prosecutor Hake, a federal judge found evidentiary probable cause and allowed the FBI to bug the narcotics court chambers of Judge Wayne Olson. Olson was one of those later convicted of corruption. In order to acquire evidence of corruption, agents obtained judicial and U.S. Department of Justice authorization to present staged court cases for the undercover agents/lawyers to fix in front of the corrupt judges. [7] In August 1983, the undercover investigative phase ended, when a corrupt court clerk and a corrupt Chicago Police officer were approached by the FBI to cooperate in the investigation and they leaked the investigation to the media.
The first defendant to be found guilty was Harold Conn, Deputy Traffic Court Clerk in the Cook County judicial system. Conn was convicted in March 1984 and was one of the many bagmen in the ring of corruption also Nick the Greek Olympic never charged. [7] The last conviction was that of Judge Thomas J. Maloney, who was indicted on bribery charges. Maloney was convicted and then sentenced in 1994 to 16 years for fixing three murder cases for more than $100,000 in bribes. [8] Maloney was released from federal prison in 2008, and died the same year.
A total of 93 people were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, 10 deputy sheriffs, eight policemen, eight court officials, and state representative James DeLeo. [9] [10] Of the 17 judges indicted, 15 were convicted. [5] One supervising judge, Richard LeFevour, was convicted on 59 counts of mail fraud, racketeering and income-tax violations, and was later sentenced to 12 years in prison, as well as being disbarred. [11] The stiffest sentence was received by former Circuit Judge Reginald Holzer, who received an 18-year sentence for accepting over $200,000 in bribes from multiple attorneys. Judge Holzer was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Scott Turow, who later became an acclaimed novelist. [12] DeLeo pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation, and was later elected to the Illinois Senate. Three subjects of the investigation committed suicide, including former Circuit Judge Allen Rosin. Rosin was taking bribes in divorce court in child custody cases and spousal property disputes. [13] [14]
The systemic corruption led to the formation of the Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County, a group assembled in August 1984 to examine the problems of the Cook County courts. The group also issued recommendations that were designed to contribute to a period of reform in the courts. The Commission, led by Jenner & Block attorney Jerold Solovy, wrote a total of 165 recommendations for the courts of Cook County. [15] Questions remain as to whether those changes achieved the cleanup which many citizens and advocates for better government desired. [10] [16] [17] [18]
Operation Greylord also led to several similar investigations targeting corruption in Cook County, including Operation Silver Shovel, Incubator, Lantern, Operation Gambat, and Safebet. [5] Operation Greylord also became known for its use of eavesdropping devices in order to obtain evidence for trial.
Most of the prosecutors have since left government service and joined large law firms, including Jenner & Block. One, Candace J. Fabri, became a judge in Cook County in 2006, and was recently rated "Well Qualified" by a local attorneys' group; only a former public defender received a higher rating. [19] Circuit Judge Thomas R. Fitzgerald, who cleaned up Traffic Court after the Greylord investigation, was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court, from which he retired in 2010. [20]
In 2009, an attorney for some of those convicted in the Greylord investigation requested that Governor Pat Quinn issue mass pardons, calling her clients rather than the taxpayers the real victims, but the governor did not grant that request before he was defeated for re-election in 2014. [21] In 2010 and 2014, respectively, two attorneys disbarred for unethical conduct disclosed in the Greylord investigation sought to regain their respective law licenses, but were denied; another attorney withdrew a similar application in 2003. [22]
In July 2016, Terrence Hake went on the Chicago talk radio program "Legal Eagles" to explain his role in Operation Greylord and the operation's aftermath. "Legal Eagles" was hosted by retired police officer William Pelarenos and broadcast on WCGO 1590AM.
Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent business people, but later evolved into a corruption investigation. The FBI was aided by the United States Department of Justice and convict Mel Weinberg in videotaping politicians accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors.
Patrick J. Fitzgerald is an American lawyer and former partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Isaac "Ike" Sims Carothers is a former alderman of the 29th Ward on the far west side of the City of Chicago. He was first elected in 1999. He resigned in 2010 after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.
Jack Bruce Johnson is a former American politician and lawyer. He was a Maryland state's attorney and was, from 2002 to 2010, the county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland. He was elected state's attorney in November 1994 and served as county executive from December 2002 to December 2010. On November 12, 2010, both Johnson and his wife were indicted on federal charges as part of a larger political corruption scandal in the county.
Angelo Joseph Errichetti was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and in the New Jersey Senate before being indicted during Abscam.
The Almighty Saints is a street gang founded in the early 1960s by Polish youth at Davis Square Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago, but later was largely made up of Hispanics due to the change in the community's ethnic makeup.
Harry "The Hook" Aleman was a Chicago mobster who was one of the most feared enforcers for the Chicago Outfit during the 1970s. Aleman got the nickname "Hook" from his boxing career in high school. He is also famous for being the only person in the United States ever to be acquitted of murder, then legally tried and convicted for murder when the initial trial was found to be corrupt. This is not considered a case of double jeopardy as the initial trial was found to be corrupt; the Chicago judge was recruited specifically to acquit Aleman during a bench trial.
The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen", the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries.
Fred Bruno Roti was an American Democratic politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was a state senator for six years, and an alderman for 24 years. He was a loyal member of the "Machine" established by Mayor Richard J. Daley, and widely believed to be an associate of the Mafia. In 1993, he was convicted in Federal court of 11 criminal counts, and was sent to prison.
Pat Marcy was an Italian-American political boss who wielded enormous power over the Illinois Democratic Party during much of the 20th century. According to Federal prosecutors, as well as informants Robert Cooley and Michael J. Corbitt, he was also a trusted and valued associate of the Chicago Outfit and the American Mafia. His official title was, "Secretary of the First Ward." FBI agent William Roemer, testifying before the U.S. Senate in 1983, said he believed Marcy to be a made man in the Chicago Outfit.
Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century.
Dianne Wilkerson is a former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk District from 1993 to 2008.
Operation Silver Shovel was a major United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into political corruption in Chicago during the 1990s. By the end of the probe illegal activities from labor union corruption to drug trafficking, organized crime activity and elected city officials on the take were unearthed, and corruption convictions were handed out to 18 individuals.
Frank James Calabrese Sr., also known as "Frankie Breeze", was a made man who ran major loansharking and illegal gambling operations for the Chicago Outfit. He is best known as a central figure in Operation Family Secrets and the subsequent federal trial. Calabrese, who was battling multiple ailments, died on Christmas Day 2012 at the Federal Medical Center, Butner, in North Carolina.
Peter J. Cammarano III is an American disbarred attorney, former Democratic politician and a convicted felon. He was the 37th mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, serving from July 1 until July 31, 2009. Cammarano was arrested by the FBI on corruption charges on July 23, 2009, as part of an international criminal investigation known as Operation Bid Rig; he resigned from office eight days later. He pleaded guilty to extortion in April 2010 and was later sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.
Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.
Thomas J. Maloney (1925–2008) was a judge in Cook County, Illinois who served from 1977 until his indictment for bribery in 1991. Since 1981, the court was being investigated by the FBI in Operation Greylord, and he was eventually convicted on four counts of accepting bribes. He served 12 years of a 15-year prison term from 1994 to 2007.
Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818. Illinois had the third most federal criminal convictions for public corruption between 1976 and 2012, behind New York and California. A study published by the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022 ranked Illinois as the second most corrupt state in the nation, with 4 out of the last 11 governors serving time in prison.
Colcor, short for Columbus County Corruption, was an undercover criminal investigation conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corrupt activities involving government officials in Columbus County, North Carolina. While the FBI had for several years received complaints about local alleged protection rackets and election fraud, they did not begin an investigation until 1980, when one of their former informants moved to the county and reported that he was being told to pay bribes to ensure the smooth operation of his business. Their investigation centered on the activities of undercover agents posing as corrupt businessmen with connections to the Detroit Mafia.
Operation Pretense was a sting operation conducted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the mid-1980s that resulted in convictions against 71 people, including 55 county supervisors, on corruption-related charges such as bribery and extortion in the state of Mississippi. The investigation began in March 1984 and lasted until late 1987, with the first indictments being issued on February 13 of that year.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)