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!

A 40 Caliber Nightmare Is Caught On Tape.

So you’re confident that that .40 caliber S&W service round will keep you safe. Maybe you’ll have second thoughts after you see this video. One hot summer night in 1994 Tempe and Mesa Arizona police were involved in a pursuit with this suspect who ran into a stranger’s apartment to hide after being shot TWICE in the chest. He was shirtless and you can see the blood pumping out of those two wounds. What’s really frightening is just how agile this fellow is as he struts to the ambulance. If he was not handcuffed and had a knife or a gun, ask yourself if he could still hurt you, your partner or a hostage? If your jurisdiction demands that officers carry either the 9MM or the .40 Caliber S&W it’s time to show this video to your bosses and lobby to have the .45 ACP round authorized. The switch may well reduce the screaming by self-appointed community activists about how many rounds police had to use on a suspect. The really talented and courageous video journalist, Karen Ke...

The origin of the feature film, COME FRIDAY…

CLick On the pictures to see full size versions. Long ago there was a young lady I had the hots for in a big way (Yes, I know that hots is not a word). She was pretty, incredibly bright, and had some real elegance about her. She had a love for children and basic kindness that you don’t often see in someone her age. I met her parents and could understand she came from a much more stable home than mine. I was raised by a single, welfare mom and suddenly found myself way out-classed. For whatever reasons things did not workout they way I had hoped. Sadly for me, we went on our separate ways. From time to time I’d run into this lady in various places where our job had taken us. Whenever this happened my heart would skip a beat or two. I left my hometown Chicago, and moved to Arizona where I founded my detective agency. As a private eye and soon a TV news producer too, my career took me to the highest profile criminal events in Arizona and throughout the country. There’s no question that ...

America Will See Its Worst Race Riot Yet This Summer

Star Prosecution Witness, Rachel Jeantel Sanford, FL —Yes, the George Zimmerman trial here has thousands of African-Americans getting ready for some serious bloodletting. I don’t want to make idle and dire predictions but this nation has never been so divided and racially sensitive. Our African-American President took sides on this case at the very beginning. That ratified a George Zimmerman guilty verdict in the minds of millions. There’s just one little problem, and that is the murder case should have never been filed. It was filed purely for political reasons despite the fact that it was a simple justifiable homicide. Zimmerman was on the block watch lookout program and followed a suspicious Trayvon Martin after he used an improper entrance to a gated community. Zimmerman was acting as the eyes and ears of the Sanford Police Department. Martin did not like being followed and knew that he could easily beat up the out-of-shape...

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