Feds charge 7 with public corruption

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A campaign treasurer for a former state senator, two Cook County corrections officers and four others were snared in an FBI undercover investigation, according to federal corruption charges unsealed today. The seven defendants believed they were able to obtain multiple $25,000 grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in return for paying kickbacks to an HHS official. But authorities said the official did not really exist and the scheme was part of a ruse by the FBI. Among those charged was Dean Nichols, who authorities identified as a campaign treasurer for a former undisclosed state senator. Authorities said the undercover probe was aided by an undisclosed Chicago police officer who began cooperating with federal investigators in 2008 during an investigation into public corruption and gun-trafficking.

Yet, many Cook County voters think only government workers should own guns!