Will Longest Wire Tap Investigation in U.S. History Lead to Long Prison Sentence For Chicago's Ed Burke ? Will Judge Consider Chicago Mob Ties in Sentencing?

Monday is sentencing day for for Chicago Alderman Ed Burke. This is the culmination of the longest wire tap investigation in U.S. history. Burke's phone calls where tapped for at many months. He was convicted on 13 of 14 felony counts. There's no way the FBI could have gotten approval to tap his phones month after month unless the FBI thought Burke was involved in other crimes. Chicago's longest serving Alderman , given his age, wants a light sentence. Can federal Judge  Virginia Kendall look the other way on the real legacy of Burke? Why would a Chicago Alderman have more money in their campaign fund (at times) than the Governor of the state of Illinois? Burke's dual role as Chairman of the Finance Committee and slating the judges in Cook County allowed his property tax appeals law firm to benefit from merging the legislative and the judical branches at the local level. Few people have made a mockery of the notion of separation of powers than Burke. 

 Alderman Burke has a slew of important people writing letters to the judge claiming Burke is a benevolent Chicago citizen who deserves a light sentence. Among the letter writers are former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb and former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy. Alderman Burke was supposed to get indicted decades ago but powerful forces prevented this from happening.

 Alderman Burke came to power in 1983 as Chairman of the Finance Committee because the Chicago Mob wanted him there. There's really no other way to put it: for a part of  his career he associated with a known made member of the Chicago Mob. He took orders from Alderman Fred Roti outside City Council chambers as Counselors Row restaurant at the "First Ward Table". In 1991, the Attorney General of the United States indentified Roti a made member of the Chicago Mob (page 15) of his annual report. Roti, was also identified as a made member of the Chicago Mob by the Justice Department in August of 1999 after he became a convicted felon. Did any this bother Alderman Burke? Not in the slightest . When Roti died , Burke introduced a resolution in Chicago's City Council  in September of 1999 honoring the life of Fred Roti.

FBI informant Robert Cooley , in his  book , When Corruption Was King  accused Burke of trying to fix a murder trial for the Chicago Mob. Why didn't Burke sue Cooley for putting that in print? Burke has never denied  it . When a Mob linked Chicago police officer murdered an African-American male : Burke is quoted saying "it's only a fucking nigger". Burke never sued Cooley for publishing this in his book.

Judge Kendall will have to consider how Alderman Burke turned Chicago's politcal system into a racketeering enterprise for his personal financial benefit. When he was indicted, Ed Burke's wife Anne was Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Doesn't Chicago's  biggest criminal deserve a rather long sentence considering what he was convicted of and what he was ever indicted on?