Final Operation Board Games defendant sentenced to 27 months in prison
Construction magnate cries as he apologizes for his role in hospital shakedown
Jacob Kiferbaum leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Wednesday with his wife, Sandy, after being sentenced to 27 months in prison. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune / July 31, 2013)
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A suburban construction magnate was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in prison for taking part in a hospital shakedown scheme that became the spark for the landmark Operation Board Games investigation into influence peddling at the highest levels of state government.
Jacob Kiferbaum, 61, was the last of 15 defendants to be sentenced in the decade-old probe that climaxed in 2008 with the sensational arrest of a sitting governor. Kiferbaum pleaded guilty to attempted extortion eight years ago and cooperated with federal investigators, leading to a substantial reduction in prison time.
In going along with the agreed sentence, U.S. District Judge John Grady said he wished he could be more optimistic that examples like Kiferbaum would deter others from going down the same path.
"We live in a state unfortunately afflicted by political corruption," said the veteran judge, 84. "It's been that way for as long as most of us can remember. … We keep hoping things are going to change."
Dressed in a dark suit and light blue tie, the silver-haired Kiferbaum, of Glencoe, broke into tears as he read a short statement in court apologizing for his wrongdoing and the "pain, agony, shame and humiliation" he had caused his family.
"I'm truly sorry for the part I played and the poor choices I made so many years ago," said Kiferbaum, glancing back at his wife, Sandy, in the courtroom gallery. He is scheduled to report to prison on Oct. 15.
According to his lawyers, Kiferbaum is the son of Holocaust survivors, came to Chicago penniless at 22 and lived the American Dream until his fall from grace. His attorneys noted in a court filing last week that Kiferbaum was the first major witness to cooperate with the FBI and started the cascading of dominoes that led to the convictions of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and numerous members of his inner circle.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaarina Salovaara told the judge that Kiferbaum's cooperation was "very critical" because he volunteered information about political insider Stuart Levine and their schemes on a state medical board that the government had not yet gleaned from wiretaps.
Kiferbaum admitted in his plea agreement to delivering an ultimatum in 2004 to Pamela Meyer Davis, head of Edward Hospital in Naperville, that she either hire his firm or have plans to build a hospital in Plainfield rejected by a state oversight board controlled by Levine, a longtime Republican fundraiser.
Kiferbaum also paid Levine $1.7 million in kickbacks to obtain two construction contracts at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago.
In court, James Streicker, one of Kiferbaum's attorneys, said his client has spent the past eight years under enormous stress and grappling with why he went along with Levine.
"He was a big boy, but he got pulled into this by Stuart Levine and really became intoxicated with what he was doing," Streicker said.
jmeisner@tribune.com
Jacob Kiferbaum, 61, was the last of 15 defendants to be sentenced in the decade-old probe that climaxed in 2008 with the sensational arrest of a sitting governor. Kiferbaum pleaded guilty to attempted extortion eight years ago and cooperated with federal investigators, leading to a substantial reduction in prison time.
In going along with the agreed sentence, U.S. District Judge John Grady said he wished he could be more optimistic that examples like Kiferbaum would deter others from going down the same path.
"We live in a state unfortunately afflicted by political corruption," said the veteran judge, 84. "It's been that way for as long as most of us can remember. … We keep hoping things are going to change."
Dressed in a dark suit and light blue tie, the silver-haired Kiferbaum, of Glencoe, broke into tears as he read a short statement in court apologizing for his wrongdoing and the "pain, agony, shame and humiliation" he had caused his family.
"I'm truly sorry for the part I played and the poor choices I made so many years ago," said Kiferbaum, glancing back at his wife, Sandy, in the courtroom gallery. He is scheduled to report to prison on Oct. 15.
According to his lawyers, Kiferbaum is the son of Holocaust survivors, came to Chicago penniless at 22 and lived the American Dream until his fall from grace. His attorneys noted in a court filing last week that Kiferbaum was the first major witness to cooperate with the FBI and started the cascading of dominoes that led to the convictions of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and numerous members of his inner circle.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaarina Salovaara told the judge that Kiferbaum's cooperation was "very critical" because he volunteered information about political insider Stuart Levine and their schemes on a state medical board that the government had not yet gleaned from wiretaps.
Kiferbaum admitted in his plea agreement to delivering an ultimatum in 2004 to Pamela Meyer Davis, head of Edward Hospital in Naperville, that she either hire his firm or have plans to build a hospital in Plainfield rejected by a state oversight board controlled by Levine, a longtime Republican fundraiser.
Kiferbaum also paid Levine $1.7 million in kickbacks to obtain two construction contracts at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago.
In court, James Streicker, one of Kiferbaum's attorneys, said his client has spent the past eight years under enormous stress and grappling with why he went along with Levine.
"He was a big boy, but he got pulled into this by Stuart Levine and really became intoxicated with what he was doing," Streicker said.
jmeisner@tribune.com
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