Nepotism has a price tag and former Lake County boss Mayor Robert Pastrick (East Chicago, IN) learned that even an old dog can be taught a new lesson: pay up, boy, pay up!
The 8-term mayor, successively re-elected through hook or crook, was foremost among a roster of political cronies - one councilman, Frank Kollinztas, absconded to Greece! - charged with defrauding taxpayers big time. How big? $108 MILLION dollars!
Daley didn't suffer this shit!
I want to go back to the good old days...
It took the Indiana Attorney General's office over a decade - and two successive mayors (East Chicagoians finally realized they could actually vote for somebody other than "Pastrick") - to nail the rats but his persistence (and patience) was rewarded with a legally historical judgement via the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (RICO). The squeaky gear of this political machine was the 1999 sidewalks-for-votes scheme (Pastrick 'won' that election).
Of the $331,000 awarded to the City upfront, Pastrick directly ponied up $147, 416. That had to have hurt his retirement nest egg.
PS: Of the two mayors since Robert Pastrick left city hall one, the man who dethroned him, is now serving time in federal prison for, what else?, public corruption. East Chicago!
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