Ambrosio Medrano
Former Chicago Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, already convicted of wrongdoing at a recent trial, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to plead guilty to additional charges. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune / September 24, 2013)
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Former Chicago Ald. Ambrosio Medrano was convicted for a third time of corruption today and could face more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty in a 2010 bribery scheme to influence a bandage contract at Stroger hospital.
Medrano, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, but he reached no agreement with prosecutors on what his sentence should be. Prosecutors said they plan to ask for up to 20 years in prison at sentencing in January, while Medrano's attorney, Gal Pissetzky, said closer to 2 years in prison would be appropriate.
"You understand there is a dramatically different view of what the guidelines will be?" U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman asked Medrano, who appeared in court in a gray suit and neatly trimmed mustache. Medrano answered in a soft voice that he understood.
A disgraced former alderman who went to prison two decades ago in Chicago's infamous Operation Silver Shovel probe, Medrano is also awaiting sentencing on a separate conviction earlier this year for plotting to pay off a Los Angeles official for a mail-order pharmaceutical contract with the Cook County hospital system. He faces up to 5 years in prison in that case.
The charges stemmed from a lengthy federal investigation in which the government used a mole -- Michael DiFoggio, a Bridgeport businessman with tax troubles who was a pal of Medrano's -- and an undercover FBI agent to snag a number of targets, including Joseph Mario Moreno, a former Cook County commissioner.
Medrano today admitted scheming with Moreno and others to steer a contract for Dermafill medical bandages to a particular company in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.
Moreno has pleaded guilty in the case as well as to 2010 bribery scheme to influence a bandage contract at Stroger hospital.and faces up to 17½ years in prison.
jmeisner@tribune.com | Twitter: @jmetr22b