The list of political heavyweights to face criminal prosecution at Chicago’s federal courthouse is dismally long and peppered with names such as Ryan, Blagojevich, Cellini, Vrdolyak, and Burke. But there has never been a Daley — until now.
Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson during the annual memorial service, Dec. 22, 2021, for fallen Chicago firefighters at the old entrance to the Union Stockyards.
But even more importantly, Thompson will be the first member of the Daley clan ever tried on federal charges — a prospect that would have been virtually unthinkable when the family was at the height of its power, holding sway over virtually every aspect of the city’s political structure, including who would serve as the U.S. attorney.
The more serious charges of making false statements carry a maximum of 30 years in federal prison, while the tax counts are punishable by up to three years behind bars. The evidence is also expected to contain little if any mention of Thompson’s position as an elected official or his role in the Daley family. In fact, the indictment doesn’t include the Daley name at all, only his middle initial, and the judge has barred Thompson’s attorneys from showing the jury the alderman’s biography posted on the 11th Ward website.
Another witness, former Washington Federal loan officer Alicia Mandujano, is expected to testify for prosecutors that Gembara directed her to doctor the bank’s books to make it look like Thompson was making payments on his loan.charges, admitted in a 27-page plea agreement with prosecutors that her alterations to Thompson’s loan records were just part of her role in the larger embezzlement conspiracy to hide millions of dollars in bad loans.
At one point, Thompson said Gembara’s delays were “killing me,” before swiftly apologizing “for his choice of words,” the report stated. “There is good reason to doubt the accuracy of the agents’ interview memoranda,” Gair wrote in a court filing last month asking to review the agents’ raw notes from their interaction Thompson that day.
Observers noted Thompson’s jowly, blue-eyed resemblance to his grandfather, a connection bolstered by the fact that he and his family live in his grandfather’s former home. Thompson did vote in favor of Lightfoot’s 2022 budget, however, and isn’t considered a hard-line Lightfoot opponent like some of his colleagues on the council.
Valderrama began a recent hearing by asking both sides if they wanted to request a continuance due to COVID-19 issues. Both prosecutors and the defense team said they wanted to go ahead with the trial.
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