Some pretty serious stuff right here, folks:
Ed Burke was Chicago's longest-serving alderman, and as chair of the city's finance committee, he was also one of the most powerful politicians in town. With these positions, it has been discovered, Burke used his influence to become one corrupt son of a gun, adding himself to the long list of corrupt politicians in Chicago's history.
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, one of the most powerful and longest-serving politicians in the Windy City, was found guilty Thursday of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion after a six-week-long federal corruption trial.
The 79-year-old Democrat was convicted on 13 of the 14 charges leveled against him in a 2019 federal indictment accusing the veteran Chicago City Council member of using his position to steer business from private developers to his law firm …
Burke's shakedown scheme targeted the developer working on a $600 million renovation of Chicago's Old Post Office, a Burger King in the former alderman's 14th Ward and Midwest liquor store chain Binny's Beverage Depot.
Burke is 79 years old, and he faces a maximum of 110 years in prison. His charges include one count of racketeering, two counts of federal program bribery, two counts of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, and eight counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
Essentially, Burke used his position as alderman to force the hand of developers — mainly, the developers of Chicago's Old Post Office — into hiring his law firm, which specializes in property tax appeals.
"Did we land the, uh, tuna?" Burke told former Alderman Danny Solis, who wore a wire for two years as federal authorities investigated the case, in an apparent reference to his desire to land the Old Post Office developer as a client for his law firm specializing in property tax appeals.
In another recording played for the jury, Burke told Solis that the developers could "go f - k themselves" if they thought they would get favorable treatment from him without their business.
Classy stuff right there!
Burke also had run-ins with a Burger King location where he shut down a remodel because the developer refused to employ his law firm. He helped a liquor store with a sign dispute, but only after they hired his law firm. He also attempted to land a developer who was working on an Amtrak project, but wasn't able to make it happen even though he had "close ties with a board member for the rail operator."
So here we have more proof that our system is broken and the only reason to get into politics is to make yourself rich in a corrupt fashion.
What a great Christmas gift for the entire city of Chicago that this guy will be behind bars!
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