Ald. Willie Cochran indicted on shakedowns, thefts . Chicago's City Council : The High Felony Conviction Profession In The News... Again. Cochran, a former Chicago police officer, was elected in 2007 after his predecessor, Ald. Arenda Troutman, was arrested by the FBI on bribery charges.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

South Side Ald. Willie B. Cochran has been charged in a 15-count indictment that alleges he shook down a lawyer and a liquor store manager.

He also was accused of pilfering money from his 20th Ward activities fund, a charity set up to host ward events and parties for constituents. He was the sole signatory on that fund's bank accounts, according to the charges.

The charges allege Cochran took out some of the money for his own personal use, including to pay for his daughter's tuition and to fund his gambling expenses. He withdrew money from the ward fund at a casino, the charges state.

The 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery come two months after the Tribune first revealed that a federal grand jury was looking into the allegations against the 20th Ward alderman.


Word of the indictment came down Wednesday morning as Cochran attended the final City Council meeting of the year. Minutes after the Tribune broke the news of the indictment, Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, walked over to Cochran, leaned over and spoke quietly to him for a couple of minutes while other aldermen were busy honoring the Chicago Cubs as the World Series trophy sat at the front of chambers.

There's more:

The Chicago City Council has a long, notorious history of corruption as 29 aldermen have been convicted of crimes related to their official duties since 1972. The most recent, Isaac "Ike" Carothers, pleaded guilty in 2010 to bribery and tax charges for accepting $40,000 in home improvements for backing a developer's controversial project in his 29th Ward. His father, William, a former alderman, was convicted 27 years earlier.

Chicago's City Council: A high felony conviction profession. University of Illinois Press will need to do an update of this book. No word yet on this story from "only police officers should own guns crowd". Alderman Willie B. Cochran is a former Chicago Police Officer, a 26 year veteran of the force !

#Chicago Ald. Cochran charged with looting fund meant for kids, seniors https://t.co/KNPUhI392w via @seidelcontent

— natasha korecki (@natashakorecki) December 14, 2016