Former Illinois State Rep. Luis Arroyo Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Federal Prison

CHICAGO – Former Illinois State Rep. Luis Arroyo has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for participating in a bribery scheme involving a fellow state lawmaker and Arroyo’s private lobbying client, a sweepstakes gaming company.

Arroyo, 67, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed a 57-month prison sentence Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by officials representing the government. Arroyo represented the 3rd District in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2006 to 2019. He has also managed Spartacus 3 LLC, a private lobbying firm in Chicago.

In 2018 and 2019, Arroyo accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from the gaming company, Collage LLC, in the form of checks made payable to Spartacus. In exchange for those bribes, Arroyo promoted legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives related to the sweepstakes industry and advised other state lawmakers to support the legislation.

In August 2019, Arroyo offered to have payments made to an Illinois state senator in return for the senator’s support of sweepstakes-related legislation. On Aug. 22, 2019, Arroyo met with the senator at a restaurant in Skokie, Ill., and provided him with a $2,500 check from Collage as an initial bribe payment, with the expectation that the senator would receive similar payments for 12 months. Arroyo told the senator, ‘This is the jackpot,’ and then wrote the name of the senator’s nominee on the company’s check. The nominee’s name was used for the purpose of concealing the illicit payment.

Arroyo’s sentence is a result of a federal wire fraud charge, which he pleaded guilty to last year.

Arroyo’s case is a reminder of the importance of holding public officials accountable for their actions. The people of Illinois deserve to know that their elected representatives are working in their best interests, not taking bribes from special interests.

The investigation into Arroyo’s bribery scheme was a collaborative effort between the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.

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