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Former Cook County Forest Preserve District Engineer Charged With Accepting $10,000 In Kickbacks
CHICAGO, Illinois — A former assistant engineer for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County has been charged with accepting $10,000 in kickbacks from two contracts he steered to a contractor who was cooperating with law enforcement.
The defendant, Joseph Mollica, 52, of Elmwood Park, will be arraigned next Wednesday in U.S. District Court. He was released on his own recognizance after he was arrested on Oct. 3, 2011 and charged initially in a criminal complaint.
Mollica was an assistant engineer for the Forest Preserve District for more than 20 years until last week, and he and others had authority to influence and award contracts for work under $25,000.
The indictment alleges that Mollica accepted a $6,000 kickback from a $24,900 contract to refinish and refurbish the Forest Preserve District’s headquarters building, where he worked, located at 536 N. Harlem Ave., in River Forest. On Dec. 16, 2011, he allegedly accepted a $4,000 kickback from a $16,500 contract to power wash and stain the building and boardwalk and do caulking at the Sand Ridge Nature Center in Calumet City.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of $10,000 in alleged kickback payments.
Each count of federal bribery carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the indictment, the cooperating individual, a construction company owner, recorded conversations and meetings with Mollica in which the contracts were arranged and the kickbacks were paid. The kickback payments occurred after the Forest Preserve District paid the cooperating individual for the work that was performed.
The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An indictment contains merely charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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