A blast from Chicago’s past! Black robes and soiled souls.

Judicial corruption in Chicago was a way of life. You could not be a judge there unless you were a Democrat. As a cop I knew at least nine of these judges and was friends with two that wound up on this list. Many other tainted judges were never caught in these roundups by sheer luck. Operation Greylord and Operation Gambat were extensive federal investigations in the 1980s and early 1990s that uncovered widespread judicial corruption in Cook County. 92 officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, eight policemen, 10 court bailiffs, eight court clerks, and one state legislator. Nearly all were convicted, most of them pleading guilty. Below is a detailed list of just the Cook County judges who were indicted during these operations, along with their sentences and outcomes:

Judges Indicted and Convicted in Operation Greylord

Reginald Holzer

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Accepted over $200,000 in bribes from attorneys.
Sentence: 18 years in federal prison.
Outcome: Served time; deceased.

Richard F. LeFevour

Position: Chief Judge of Traffic Court
Charges: Convicted on 59 counts, including mail fraud and racketeering.
Sentence: 12 years in prison.
Outcome: Served time; disbarred.

Wayne W. Olson (friend)
Position: Circuit Judge

Charges: Mail fraud, racketeering, and extortion.
Sentence: 12 years in prison.
Outcome: Died in federal prison in 1988.

John McCollom
Position: Circuit Judge

Charges: Accepted nearly $300,000 in bribes to fix DUI cases.
Sentence: 11 years in prison.
Outcome: Served time; released.

John F. Reynolds
Position: Circuit Judge

Charges: Racketeering, mail fraud, and tax fraud.
Sentence: 10 years in prison.
Outcome: Served time; released.

John J. McDonnell. (Friend)

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Racketeering, extortion, obstruction of justice, and tax evasion.
Sentence: 6 years in prison.
Outcome: Served time; released.

Michael McNulty

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Accepted bribes to fix cases.
Sentence: 3 years in prison and fined $45,000.
Outcome: Served time; released.

Allen F. Rosin

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Under investigation for accepting bribes in divorce cases.
Outcome: Committed suicide in 1987 before charges were filed.

Raymond Sodini

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: RICO violations.
Outcome: Convicted; sentence details not specified.

Adam N. Stillo Sr.

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Racketeering; accepted bribes to fix cases.
Outcome: Indicted; further details not specified.

Judges Implicated in Operation Gambat

Thomas J. Maloney

Position: Circuit Judge
Charges: Accepted bribes to fix murder cases.
Sentence: 15 years in prison.
Outcome: Served 12 years; released in 2007; died in 2008.

David J. Shields

Position: Chief Judge of the Chancery Division
Charges: Accepted $6,000 in bribes to rule favorably in a civil suit.
Outcome: Convicted; sentence details not specified.

Summary

In total, Operation Greylord led to the indictment of 17 judges, with 15 convictions. Operation Gambat further exposed corruption within the judiciary, leading to additional convictions. These operations highlighted systemic issues within the Cook County judicial system and prompted significant reforms to restore public trust. My question is do you really think that this ended judicial corruption? Not a chance!

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