Chicago Mob Associate James Duff Loses Appeal

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

A politically connected contractor admitted he set up fake minority- and women-owned businesses to reap $100 million in city contracts.

Yet, James Duff argued, his companies completed all the work, so he doesn't deserve to spend nearly 10 years in prison and pay millions of dollars in fines.

In a recent opinion, a federal appeals court disagreed.

In a ruling that could have broader implications as the feds continue to probe City Hall fraud and look to uphold recent convictions of the mayor's patronage chief and others, the court upheld Duff's conviction.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo served Duff with the harsh sentence and ordered him to pay $10.9 million in restitution and another $10.9 million in fines. Bucklo ordered Duff to give back his profits to the city even though he completed the services. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals supported that thinking, saying that Duff cheated the city when he took contracts that belonged to women and minorities.

Great moments in the Democratic Party in Chicago.