Carbondale Reporter

James T. Weiss, a corrupt businessman, has been sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison for bribing two Illinois Democratic lawmakers and lying to the FBI. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago on October 11.

During the trial that concluded in June, Weiss was found guilty of honest services wire and mail fraud, bribery, and lying to the FBI. He had paid $32,500 in bribes to then-state representative Luis Arroyo and $5,000 to then-state senator Terry Link in an attempt to change state law for his electronic sweepstakes business. Weiss had also planned to pay Link an additional $25,000.

In his sentencing, Judge Seeger did not hold back in expressing his disdain for corruption. He referred to corruption as "an embarrassment to the great city of Chicago" and told Weiss, "Mr. Weiss, you added another star to Chicago’s walk of shame on the sidewalk of corruption."

It is worth noting that Arroyo is already serving time in prison after pleading guilty to bribery charges in 2021. On the other hand, Link, who cooperated with the FBI investigation, is awaiting sentencing for his own tax crimes. Both Arroyo and Link are Democrats, and Weiss is the husband of former Democratic state representative Toni Berrios.

Judge Seeger had previously sentenced Arroyo to nearly five years in prison for his involvement in the bribery scheme. During that hearing, Seeger referred to Arroyo as a "dirty politician who was on the take" and a "corruption super-spreader." In contrast, during the Weiss trial, Judge Seeger held Weiss more responsible for the scheme, stating, "Looks to me like it was your idea."

The Weiss trial comes on the heels of the 'ComEd Four' verdict, which was tied to former Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan. In that highly publicized bribery case, four ComEd employees were found guilty on a total of 30 corruption charges.

In light of these recent corruption cases, Illinois House Republicans have been advocating for sweeping corruption and ethics reform. Despite the numerous Illinois legislators who have been indicted or imprisoned on corruption charges since 2019, Illinois still lags behind other states in enacting meaningful reforms.

Among the reforms proposed by House Republicans are the elimination of conflicts of interest and empowering the Legislative Inspector General with subpoena powers. They believe that ethics reforms should be open, transparent, and bipartisan. House Republicans also believe that legislators should not be lobbyists and that public service should take precedence over self-interest.

The sentencing of James T. Weiss serves as a reminder that the time for pay-to-play politics must come to an end in Illinois.

To learn more, click on this link: https://reppauljacobs.com/2023/10/20/the-caucus-blog-ethics-reforms-needed-now/