Eighty-one-year-old former Chicago Alderman Edward Burke is petitioning President Trump for a reduction of his two-year prison sentence. Burke was convicted in 2023 on 13 felony counts related to racketeering and bribery charges. Prosecutors alleged Burke used his political influence to extort real estate developers into hiring his law firm.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Ald. Edward Burke is asking President Trump to reduce his prison sentence for his conviction on racketeering and bribery charges.Burke, 81, has filed a petition with the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking to have his two-year prison sentence commuted.
In 2023, a federal jury convicted Burke of 13 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, and using an interstate facility to promote unlawful activity. Federal prosecutors accused Burke of using his political clout at City Hall to pressure real estate developers into hiring his private property tax law firm.Burke was sentenced to two years in prison, and this past September he began serving his sentence at FCI Thomson, a low-security federal prison in western Illinois. He currently is expected to be released from prison in May 2026, after which he must serve a year of court supervision. He also must pay a $2 million fine, and $65,000 in restitution to the owners of a Burger King restaurant he was convicted of extorting.Ironically, while Burke is now seeking clemency from President Trump, during his trial, his successfully argued that the jury should not hear any mention of Donald Trump's during the trial, because he was under indictment himself at the time, and is 'despised by a significant percentage of the population.'Burke had performed legal work for Trump, helping him get a significant property tax break on the Trump Tower in Chicago, and his attorneys argued any mention of that work at trial could prejudice the jury against Burke.A judge agreed with Burke's attorneys, and ordered prosecutors to redact any video or audio recordings that mentioned Trump
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