DIRKSEN FEDERAL BUILDING — Former Ald. Ed Burke, the city’s longest-serving alderman and one of its most powerful politicians for decades, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy Thursday afternoon.
Burke was convicted by a jury of pressuring developers to hire his private law firm and leveraging his political clout to secure jobs and favors for allies.
The conviction caps a stunning fall from grace for an old-school politician who wielded his power for decades as the head of the City Council’s Committee on Finance, which controls much of the city’s spending.
His wife, former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke, was at his side in the courtroom when the verdict was read Thursday afternoon, according to the Sun-Times.
The verdict is the culmination of years of work from the feds to secure a conviction against Burke, who earlier this year did not seek a new term representing the 14th Ward after 54 years in office.
The 79-year-old Burke was convicted by a jury of 13 of 14 counts after four days of deliberations. Burke was convicted of racketeering, attempted extortion, using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity, corruptly soliciting things of value and federal program bribery.
The jurors heard from 38 witnesses over 16 days of testimony at the Downtown Dirksen Federal Building, according to the Sun-Times.
Burke will be sentenced on June 17. He could face up to 20 years in prison.
Block Club’s Mick Dumke discusses Ed Burke’s legacy:
Morris Pasqual, acting U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of Illinois, said the jury affirmed the use of pay-to-play politics Burke conducted while in office.
“This case was about bribery and extortion occurring at the highest level of Chicago city government,” Pasqual said at a press conference following the verdict. “In this case, defendant Burke has his hand out for money. He tied the giving of official action by him to the giving of money to him.”
Pasqual said the landmark trial will hopefully help root out corruption in government, but warned his office and other law enforcement will continue to investigate issues of corruption “at any and all levels of government.”
“I’d like to think public officials out there who are tempted to start down this path will be even further on notice that you know, the federal government is out there,” he said. “And we’re aggressively pursuing these type of matters.”
Burke’s conviction caps months of drama at the courthouse — and clears a path for another landmark corruption case: The trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is set to face racketeering charges in federal court in April.
In 2018, the FBI raided Burke’s offices, and the Sun-Times revealed former Ald. Danny Solis had become an FBI informant who wore a wire during conversations with Burke. Solis himself was ensnared by the feds, but he made a deal to root out more powerful politicians in exchange for leniency. He testified in Burke’s trial earlier this month and could be called to testify in the Madigan trial.
Burke was forced out of his job as the head of the Finance committee amid the scandal and shortly after announced he would not seek a second term.
It took years for the case to head to trial, where prosecutors said Burke had used his power as alderman to steer business toward his law firm, Klafter & Burke. They said Burke had pressured the owners of a Burger King and Binny’s to use his firm if they wanted his support with bureaucratic issues that threatened their businesses.
And Burke played a key role in helping the developers behind the Old Post Office revamp tap into tax-increment financing funds — after they became clients of his law firm.
Prosecutors also said Burke threatened to block the Field Museum’s push for an entry fee increase because the museum had not provided an internship to his goddaughter.
The case had implications in Chicago’s 2019 mayoral elections, too: Burke’s ties to Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president, were seen as playing a role in her loss to Lori Lightfoot in the race to lead the city.
Lightfoot and Burke frequently sparred at City Council meetings during her time as mayor, and she celebrated his conviction.
“With this jury’s verdict, Ed Burke should rightfully be remembered as a man who elevated personal ambition and greed over doing the people’s work,” Lightfoot said in a statement released minutes after the verdict was announced. “… But like many before who feasted on their gluttonous power, Burke was felled because this total lack of accountability made him foolishly think he was invincible. So he grossly overplayed his hand. He dug his own grave and jumped in.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who succeeded Lightfoot, issued a statement saying: “Elected officials are responsible for serving with honesty and integrity, with a moral responsibility to their constituents to uphold and abide by the law. In the case that they fail to do so, it is imperative that they are held accountable. That is what the jury decided today.”
Burke’s aide, Peter Andrews, had gone to trial with the former alderman, but he was found not guilty. Real estate developer and attorney Charles Cui was also found guilty in the trial. Cui is accused of bribing Burke in an effort to get a sign approved for a Northwest Side commercial property he owned.
Burke joins more than three dozen alderpeople convicted of crimes since the early ’70s, according to the Sun-Times. Since 1969, the year Burke took office, 38 City Council members have been convicted.
Burke was around to watch all of them fall.
Burke served in the City Council from 1969 until May. He had succeeded his father, who served 15 years as alderman of the same Southwest Side ward before dying at age 57.
The elder Burke was a Cook County sheriff’s deputy. His son became a Chicago cop while studying law. When his father died, he was anointed his successor and climbed his way up the ladder. Along the way, he also made a lucrative living as a real estate tax attorney, even representing Donald Trump and helping him get a tax cut on his Trump Tower property tax bill.
Ald. Jeylú Gutiérrez became the first Latina to represent the majority-Hispanic ward in May as Burke awaited trial.
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