Editor's note: Your ProbateShark is reminded of a bumper sticker viewed many years ago. "Cats, so many, so few recipes." Soon, very soon, the many probate court gangsters may also be "walking outside of the Federal Building". Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Jury Finds Chicago Official Guilty of Bribery in Red-Light Camera Scandal
Former assistant transportation commissioner found guilty of receiving cash in exchange for helping Redflex Traffic Systems win contracts
John Bills, a former Chicago transportation official, walked outside the federal building in Chicago on Tuesday. PHOTO: JAMES FOSTER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO—A former city transportation official was found guilty Tuesday in a bribery scheme tied to Chicago’s controversial red-light camera program.
A jury found John Bills, former assistant transportation commissioner, guilty of fraud, bribery and extortion charges for receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and perks in exchange for helping Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. build Chicago’s red-light ticketing system into the one of the largest in the nation.
The guilty verdict comes less than a year after former Redflex Chief Executive Karen Finley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in the case.
Over the past decade, red-light cameras have spread rapidly across the country as a way to catch drivers who run stoplights. Public officials embraced the technology as a way to improve traffic safety by reducing accidents. But the cameras have faced growing backlash, including here where their use became an issue for Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he ran for re-election last year.
One of the companies behind the expansion of the cameras nationally has been Redflex Traffic Systems, a subsidiary of Redflex Holdings Ltd., based in Australia. The company won contracts in Chicago, first in 2003 and then again 2008, that prosecutors have said cost the city $131 million.
Prosecutors said Redflex turned to Mr. Bills for help in winning the contracts. They said that as assistant transportation commissioner for the city, he was on the evaluation committee for the first contract and used his influence to help the company expand its operation over nearly a decade. In exchange, Mr. Bills received more than $600,000 in cash, meals, trips and a condominium in Arizona.
Mr. Bills “deprived the city of Chicago of money and honest services,” said Zachary Fardon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Nishay Sanan, Mr. Bills’s lawyer, argued that his client wasn’t in a position to have such influence over the red-light camera contracts, saying the scheme instead involved elected officials. But federal prosecutors have said there is no evidence of wrongdoing by elected officials.
Mr. Sanan said the verdict was disappointing and he would continue fighting through the appeals process for Mr. Bills. The 54-year-old faces a maximum of 304 years in prison, federal officials said.
The red-light scandal has stretched beyond Chicago. Ms. Finley, in addition to the guilty plea in Chicago, pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme in Ohio last year. Prosecutors said the company from 2005 to 2013 provided campaign contributions through a consultant to elected officials in the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati in exchange for assistance in winning city contracts.
Redflex said in a statement Tuesday that the company named new leadership three years ago and made changes in corporate policy, while also cooperating with the government in Mr. Bills’s case.
—Ben Kesling contributed to this article.
