One of Chicago’s longest-serving Democratic lawmakers convicted of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion
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.
Prosecutors also alleged that Burke threatened to block a measure raising admission fees at Chicago’s famed Field Museum over its failure to grant an internship to the daughter of a former alderman, whom he had recommended.
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.
“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.
The disgraced city official also repeatedly played up that he could help the developer – 601W Companies LLC of New York – in a dispute with Amtrak because of his close ties with a board member for the rail operator.
“We made his daughter a judge here in Cook County. And one of their other daughters is a friend of my daughter … You’ll find out Chicago is a very small town,” Burke said in one recording.
“Jews are Jews, and they’ll deal with Jews to the exclusion of everybody else … unless there’s a reason for them to use a Christian,” Burke also told his colleague, referring to the lead developer of the Old Post Office renovation project, who is Jewish. Burke is Roman Catholic.
Burke was also accused of shutting down remodeling work at a Burger King owned by Zohaib Dhanani after the fast-food franchise operator didn’t respond to Burke’s request to employ his law firm.
“It seems like the two were being linked together … the property taxes and the permits,” Dhanani told jurors.
“Maybe since I had not responded about the property tax business, maybe that’s why it would have been shut down,” Dhanani testified. “I didn’t see any other reason why it would be shut down.”
Peter Andrews, a political aide to Burke, and developer Charles Cui were on trial alongside the former alderman, who resigned in May.
Andrews was found not guilty on all charges.
Cui was found guilty on bribery charges after he hired Burke’s law firm in an effort to get the ex-alderman’s help resolving a pole sign dispute with the city related to his Binny’s Beverage Depot property. Burke had the city’s buildings commissioner look into Cui’s sign issue the same day his firm signed Cui up as a client.
Burke faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in federal prison.
He left the courthouse with his wife, retired Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke, without speaking to reporters.
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