Ald. Carothers pleads guilty to corruption in deal with feds

Ald. Carothers pleads guilty to corruption in deal with feds
BY Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
February 1, 2010 12:49 PM
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/ald-carothers-pleads-guilty-to-corruption-charges.html


Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers, left, leaves the Dirksen Federal Building today with his attorney Jeff Steinbeck, right, after pleading guilty to federal bribery and tax charges. (Chris Walker/ Chicago Tribune)

Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers pleaded guilty today to federal corruption charges in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to be sentenced to 28 months in prison.

His attorney said Carothers plans to resign from the City Council today, as required by law.

In admitting he accepted $40,000 in improvements to his home for supporting a developer's controversial project in his ward, Carothers joins a long list of crooked aldermen who have helped cement Chicago's reputation for political corruption.

The 29th Ward alderman pleaded guilty to one count of failing to report the home improvements on his income taxes and to one count of corruptly accepting items of value for supporting a zoning change for the project.

The plea deal calls for prosecutors to drop four more serious wire and mail fraud charges that carried stiffer penalties.

Under state law, the guilty plea requires that Carothers' City Council seat be vacated immediately. Mayor Richard Daley would select Carothers' replacement.

Carothers' attorney, Jeffrey Steinback, said Carothers would tender his resignation from the City Council today.

"How the statute precisely works is a little bit unclear given that he's not yet been sentenced and therefore the judgment isn't final," Steinback said. "But in order to be clear, and in order to do things in an appropriate fashion, Mr. Carothers has determined to tender his resignation today."

Steinback was asked why Carothers accepted a bribe in return for supporting the zoning change. Steinback said the situation was not something Carothers initiated or demanded, and that Carothers already supported the change for Galewood Yards because it was good for his ward.

The home improvements he accepted were a reward for doing so, Steinback said, and Carothers first asked the developer, Calvin Boender whether an invoice for the work would be forthcoming.

"What was good for his ward was good for his ward, regardless of these additional benefits, which he should not have received," Steinback said. "That is the crime."

Carothers knew he should not have been accepting such things from someone doing business with the city, the lawyer said. The alderman is not denying that what he did was illegal, Steinback said.

"I haven't yet met a perfect human being. I doubt in my lifetime that I will," he said. "People engage in activities that they regret. I know that this is something that Ike regrets deeply. That's why he has come in and pled guilty. That's why he's agreed to cooperate with the government -- in an attempt to try to make things right."

For months, Carothers has been cooperating with federal authorities and working undercover secretly recording other public officials and businessmen. He would be the government's star witness at separate trials of the developer and of a businessman accused of bribing alderman for favors at Chicago's two airports.

Carothers' conviction brings to 28 the number of alderman found guilty of wrongdoing since 1972. One of those was Carothers' father, William, who was accused of similar wrongdoing as his son. The elder Carothers was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison in 1983 for extorting remodeling work for his ward office.

Ike Carothers, 55, has been an alderman since 1999 and is one of Daley's staunchest allies on the City Council. Aldermen are paid $110,560-a-year.

When Carothers was indicted last May, Daley said he was surprised by the charges and called the alderman a "hardworking, dedicated public servant."

Carothers' co-defendant, Boender, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in March. Ten current or former aldermen are fighting subpoenas for their testimony sought by Boender.

Boender allegedly bribed Carothers to win his support for a zoning change for Galewood Yards, a controversial commercial and residential project in the alderman's ward.

The Tribune in 2008 chronicled how Boender overrode the opposition of city planners to Galewood Yards after enlisting the support of Carothers and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago). Boender and his associates had donated about $55,000 to Carothers' re-election campaigns and $41,000 to Gutierrez.

Gutierrez has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The indictment also alleged the Carothers asked Boender to donate to a relative who was running for Congress in 2004 and that Boender enlisted two others to give contributions on his behalf. Carothers' aunt, Anita Rivkin-Carothers, ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for Congress.

Carothers has cooperated with the FBI beginning in 2008 and has recorded others with a hidden microphone and a video camera. Carothers is at the center of the federal bribery case of businessman Wafeek "Wally" Aiyash, who he secretly recorded.

According to court records, Aiyash allegedly offered a $100,000 bribe to Carothers to help him open seven restaurants at O'Hare International and Midway airports. Carothers was a member of the council's Aviation Committee, whose duties include approving contracts at the airports.

Aiyash, like Boender, donated to the alderman's political campaigns and did business in his West Side ward. Aiyash's lawyer declined to comment.