During an April 2022 court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu called Solis one of the most significant government informants and witnesses of the last several decades. But prosecutors do not plan to call him during the trial of former Ald. Ed Burke, set to start Nov. 6.
Danny Solis
Burke, 78, faces a November 2023 trial on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges centered on allegations that he repeatedly — and brazenly — used his powerful position at City Hall to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm.
If Ald. Ed Burke decides to run for re-election in February 2023, he will do so before being brought to trial on charges he has faced for more than an entire term on the Chicago City Council.
‘Ald. Burke Should Tell It to a Jury’: Judge Rejects Bid to Dismiss Charges, Block Use of Recordings
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow’s 194-page ruling paves the way for Burke and his co-defendants, longtime aide Peter Andrews and Portage Park businessman Charles Cui, to stand trial together in 2023, more than three years after they were indicted and pleaded not guilty.
A federal judge said Tuesday that he is preparing to issue a nearly 200-page ruling in the corruption case against Ald. Edward Burke (14th Ward) that could determine whether federal prosecutors can use thousands of hours of the powerful politician’s telephone conversations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said former Ald. Danny Solis is one of the most significant government informants and witnesses of the last several decades.
Former Ald. Danny Solis caused “generational” harm to Chicago and residents of the 25th Ward, his successor told the judge overseeing the criminal case facing the disgraced former alderperson.
Chicago officials will get a chance to argue that the entire city was victimized by former Ald. Danny Solis, who is set to avoid prison and keep his city pension after helping investigators probe other politicians.
Disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis is scheduled to be arraigned on one charge of bribery Wednesday morning by Judge Andrea Wood. But Solis will not be facing down the prospect of a long prison sentence if convicted.
Former Ald. Danny Solis was charged with taking money from an unidentified real estate developer when he was chair of the City Council Zoning Committee in 2015.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) had urged the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn decisions by the Illinois State Board of Elections as well as lower courts that allowed politicians accused of political corruption to use funds contributed by supporters of their campaigns to defend themselves from accusations of wrongdoing while in office.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) looked on as his attorney Adolfo Mondragon urged the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn decisions by the Illinois State Board of Elections as well as lower courts to toss out his complaint against his predecessor, disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis.
Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and massive amount of evidence, Ald. Ed Burke's criminal trial will not take place until 2022 at the earliest.
The case began in November 2019 when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections against his disgraced predecessor, former Ald. Danny Solis.
Federal prosecutors defended their decision to hit Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) with a 14-count corruption indictment in a court filing released Wednesday, saying Chicago’s longest-serving aldermen is “thoroughly corrupt and worthy of prosecution.”
A rancorous debate that stretched for more than 18 months ended Tuesday with a unanimous vote of the City Council’s Zoning Committee to reject an effort to landmark more than 900 buildings and murals in Pilsen.
