The former mayor of Crestwood, Illinois, has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for participating in a bribery scheme involving red-light camera services.
Louis Presta, 71, of Crestwood, pleaded guilty last year to one count of using a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery and official misconduct, and one count of filing a false income tax return.
Presta was sentenced to a year-and-a-day in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.
‘Public corruption is an extremely serious offense that erodes the public’s trust in all levels of government,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Durkin argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
The plea agreement describes a Feb. 27, 2018, phone call in which Presta updated the individual on the higher percentage of red-light traffic violations that Crestwood approved the previous week.
Presta stated, ‘We’re starting to get the numbers again… you got a new sheriff in town.’ Shortly after that call, Presta on March 7, 2018, received a $5,000 cash bribe from the individual.
Additional to the bribery scheme, Presta admitted in the plea agreement that he willfully filed a false personal income tax return for the calendar year 2015.
Defendant: Louis Presta
Charges: Using a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery and official misconduct, Filing a false income tax return
City and State: Chicago, Illinois
Date: [No specific date mentioned in the source]
Sentence: 1 year-and-a-day in federal prison
Dollar Amount: $5,000 cash bribe
Related Federal Cases
- Louis Presta, Bribery Scheme, Illinois 2024 · Arkansas
- Louis Presta, Bribery and Filing a False Income Tax Return, Illinois 2015 · Illinois
- Lavdim Memisovski, Bribery, Illinois 2017 · Illinois
- Michael McClain, Bribery, Illinois 2023 · Arkansas
- Edward M. Burke, Bribery and Extortion, Illinois 2019 · Illinois
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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