Judge Matthew Kennelly on Friday sentenced former alderman Ed Vrdolyak to 10 months in prison, followed by five months work release and home confinement.
Prosecutors had asked Kennelly to sentence Vrdolyak to 41 months in prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving a Chicago medical college.
Previously, Vrdolyak received probation for the offense. But an outraged U.S. Attorney's office appealed, and the appellate court ordered that he be resentenced.
"This is not a one-time faulty judgment," prosecutor Chris Niewoehner told judge Matthew Kennelly. "He is powerful. He is wealthy. He is privileged. He has all these things going for him, and still he commits this crime."
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/alderman-ed-vrdolyak-sentence-1050526...
Edward Vrydolyak Sentenced to 20 Months in Real Estate Scheme
Updated: Friday, 15 Oct 2010, 3:14 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 15 Oct 2010, 9:00 AM CDT
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Sun-Times Media Wire
Chicago - Legendary former 10th Ward Ald. Edward "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak was sentenced to 20 months -- ten in prison -- for his role in a real estate scheme.
The sentence combines ten months in prison with five months work release and another five months home confinement. The judge also imposed a $260,000 fine.
In testimony prior to the sentencing, Vrdolyak told the judge he was sorry for making a "stupid mistake," while asking once again to avoid prison time for his crime.
"This has been a very long and very difficult ordeal for everyone," Vrdolyak, 72, said of his role in the scheme. "I'm sorry. I made a stupid mistake . . . it was dumb, it was stupid and I was wrong."
Prosecutors on Friday asked for nearly 3 1/2 years for the "secret handshake deal," calling Vrdolyak a "wealthy," "privileged" man who conspired for a kickback because he was a powerful insider who could get away with it.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly listened to Vrdolyak's address as well as arguments from prosecutors in Vrdolyak's resentencing hearing for about 90 minutes.
Kennelly got the case after an appeals court ruled in January in a stinging decision that the probation-only penalty Vrdolyak first got in February 2009 for the crime was inappropriate.
The decision blasted U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur for sentencing Vrdolyak to five years of probation, including community service, and fining him $50,000. The appellate court ordered Vrdolyak to be resentenced by another judge.
"The only answer you can come up with is he wanted the money and he could," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner said in explaining a possible motive.
Vrdolyak pleaded guilty in November 2008 to conspiring with politically connected businessman Stuart Levine to win a $1.5 million kickback off the sale of a Gold Coast medical school property.
Vrdolyak's lawyer, Michael Monico, pointed to Vrdolyak's community service, saying his work meant that domestic violence and homeless shelters remained open. Monico said Vrdolyak brought 100 volunteers to help clean up a boarded-up building to be transformed as a place for youth.
The kickback was not paid because Levine's cooperation had become known but the owners of the building, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, said Levine's and Vrdolyak's conspiring cost them. That's because Levine worked to steer the sale to Smithfield Properties, so he and Vrdolyak could win their finder's fee, even as others were willing to pay more for the property, prosecutors said.
Monico, though, said the school got fair market value for the property.
He pushed again for no prison time, saying Vrdolyak, who grew up above a bar, as one of seven kids, often used the fruits of his success to help others.
"He never forgot what was important in life," Monico said.
Monico painted Vrdolyak as a man who used his multitude of connections to help others, including getting them medical help or jobs. He has lost his law license and is shamed by the conviction.
"He's as shamed as a person can possibly be," Monico said.
But prosecutors questioned whether Vrdolyak was truly shamed and said it was his choice not to take the dark path.
"He will do what he needs to do to make money," Niewoehner said.
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/edward-vrdolyak-resentencing-kickb...
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