Former Ald. Ed Burke sentenced to 2 years in prison for corruption as judge rejects request for harsher sentence

As the judge left the courtroom and the fate of the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history began to sink in, hugs and handshakes surrounded what one prosecutor had called a few hours earlier the “corrupt face of municipal government”.

Edward M. Burke smiled.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall sentenced to two years in prison the man who represented Chicago’s 14th District for 54 years and long headed the finance committee before being convicted in a historic trial on charges of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. She told him to turn himself in on September 23 and ordered him to pay an unusually high fine of $2 million.

However, the 80-year-old Burke had far worse in a courthouse where judges spent years exposing corruption and trying to send a message to officials who betray the public trust. Prosecutors initially sought a 10-year sentence, and guidelines called for up to eight years.

So when the time came for Burke to learn his sentence, the mood in the courtroom turned somber. Burke’s wife, Anne Burke, retired chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, looked down and held a hand to her face as her husband spoke briefly to the judge.

“The fault is mine and mine alone,” Burke said, reading a statement written with his hands on the podium. “I regret the pain and heartache I have caused my family and dear friends.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker called Burke “the face of city government” and said he nevertheless “chose to engage in criminal activity again and again.” She told the judge that “public officials in this city and state must understand that if they engage in corruption, they will pay dearly for it.”

Kendall then turned this difficult speech against Streicker and his colleagues. She asked about former Ald. Danny Solis, the notorious government mole who secretly recorded Burke and others after the FBI confronted him with evidence of his own wrongdoing. He made a deal with the federal government that means he will likely never be convicted of a crime or sent to prison.

“If the DA’s office is so concerned about public corruption, it seems a little unwarranted to say that Mr. Solis will have absolutely no time to devote to his criminal activities,” Kendall said.

That comment prompted one of Burke’s supporters to sharply turn his head in the direction of one of the lead prosecutors on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet. Bhachu. And it echoes past criticism of the federal government’s deal with Solis, who was praised by Bhachu as one of Chicago’s “most important collaborators in recent decades.”

The judge also spoke at length about the hundreds of letters of support written on Burke’s behalf, detailing acts of charity, goodwill and altruism.

“These are very personal acts that have nothing to do with authority or public office,” Kendall said.

Burke could now spend just over a year and a half in prison, until he is 82 years old. As for the fine, prosecutors told the judge this month that Burke was worth “millions and millions of dollars.” His main political fund had about $167,693 at the end of March.

He smiled after the hearing as he hugged his wife and the lawyers who were trying to convince Kendall not to give Burke any prison time. He then left the courthouse walking arm in arm with Anne Burke, showing little emotion as he walked toward a black SUV.

Burke has not commented. Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual released a statement.

“Corruption within the Chicago City Council is destroying the vital fabric of a vital body of local government,” Pasqual said. “When a city councilor fails to carry out their duties with honesty and integrity, they betray not only the citizens of Chicago, but also their fellow public servants who are doing their jobs the right way.”

It all ends five years of prosecutions sparked by a decade-old investigation that shook Chicago politics and changed the course of the city’s history.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot was propelled to power amid fallout from the Burke lawsuits by highlighting the ties several of her opponents had to Burke. In a statement, she said Burke “should be grateful that his sentence was not longer – it certainly could have been rightly so.” »

Mayor Brandon Johnson, the man who successfully challenged Lightfoot for the job last year, declined to comment on Burke’s sentence.

Burke represented the Southwest Side’s 14th Ward for 54 years – the longest reign in Chicago history. He wielded immense power through his chairmanship of the Finance Committee and also served as judicial ticket leader for the Cook County Democratic Party. Burke retired from his seat on the Council in 2023.

In late December, a jury convicted him of 13 counts of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. The case against him involved projects centered on the Field Museum, the old post office straddling the Eisenhower Expressway, a Burger King in the Burke neighborhood and a Binny’s beverage depot on the Northwest Side.

Today, Burke is the most prominent Illinois politician to walk out of the Dirksen federal courthouse with a prison sentence in nearly a decade. Still, the two-year sentence seems relatively light compared to recent corruption cases.

Tyler Pasciak LaRivière/Sun-Times

Tougher sentences were handed down to former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, who is serving nearly five years in prison for accepting bribes; businessman James T. Weiss, who serves 5 and a half years for giving these bribes to Arroyo; and Tim Mapes, the former chief of staff to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence for perjury.

Even lower-level figures, like former political operatives Roberto Caldero and Patrick Doherty, as well as former Bloomingdale Township Highway Commissioner Robert Czernek, have received harsher prison sentences in recent years.

Kendall herself previously sentenced a former City Hall staffer to 10 years in prison after a public corruption trial in 2016.

Former Chicago Ald. Dick Simpson said Burke’s phrase still sends the message “that corruption takes a heavy toll.”

“You have to remember that Burke is now in his 80s and not in very good health,” said Simpson, who served with Burke in the 1970s and is professor emeritus of political science at the University of California. Illinois to Chicago. “So it will be a harrowing experience for him and a warning to everyone else.”

Streicker attempted to cast a shadow over the good deeds described in letters written in support of Burke. She said “those good deeds don’t outweigh his crimes” and that wealthy people like Burke shouldn’t get an advantage because they have the ability to give to charity.

“Charitable acts are certainly not an escape card,” Streicker said, adding that “being a good friend … does not give one the right” to commit a crime.

Streicker also criticized Burke for asking the court for mercy without showing “any remorse or accountability.” She made her comment before Burke spoke to the judge.

“An essential prerequisite for mercy is admitting that you did something wrong,” Streicker said. “What he’s asking for is no consequences.”

Prosecutors often threaten harsh sentences to convince defendants to plead guilty rather than risk a trial. They also use them to pressure potential collaborators such as Solis to record their friends and colleagues, in an effort to gather evidence against more powerful actors.

Over the years, federal judges in Chicago have also tried to use them to send a message about corruption. But Burke’s attorney, Charles Sklarsky, joined other defense attorneys Monday when he argued that the threat of conviction — rather than the severity of the punishment — was the best deterrent.

“We hear it in every case,” Sklarsky said. “And yet there are still more cases. So there must be something wrong there. It does not work.”

Kendall seemed to acknowledge that argument when she told the courtroom she was looking at “much higher fines than normal.” She ordered Burke to pay $200,000 for his racketeering conviction and $150,000 for the remaining 12 counts, a total of $2 million.

More than anything, Kendall seemed affected by the hundreds of letters written by Burke’s supporters. They seemed to resonate deeply with the lawyer, who said: “In my entire career, I have never seen the letters I received for Mr. Burke. »

“I don’t know how many times I’ve read here that you’re sitting with someone who’s dying” or “paying for a funeral because they heard about it on the news,” Kendall said.

She recalled stories of Burke sitting with a car accident victim he witnessed on Michigan Avenue, helping people navigate insurance red tape to maintain their health care coverage, or d Once Burke wrote a letter to the mother of a fallen Afghan soldier offering support and asking to name a school after him.

“A lot of them were unsolicited actions, which were small, selfless acts of kindness,” she said.

She gestured to the binder of letters in front of her and told the courtroom she had the “very difficult challenge” of reconciling the man described there with the man Solis recorded for the FBI between 2016 and 2018.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to say that activity from 2016 to 2018 erases all of that,” Kendall said.

Contributors: Sophie Sherry, Tessa Weinberg/WBEZ

Prosecutors asked for 10 years in prison. Defense attorneys for the longtime city councilman, who turned 80 in December, are asking the judge not to send him to prison at all.