One For The Road: Operation Greylord

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 6, 2012 10:45PM

Reader ChicagoD noted when Dan Webb was named the special prosecutor in the David Koschman investigation the chances of someone being indicted by the grand jury Webb convened went from "nothing" to "likely." Webb is a dogged prosecutor who will leave no stone in his investigation unturned. The Koschman investigation isn't his first high-profile investigation.

Webb was one of four U.S. attorney's assigned to the Operation Greylord investigation into judicial corruption in Cook County. The investigation went public on Aug. 5, 1983 and was so wide in scope it involved the FBI, the IRS, the U.S. Postal Investigation division, the Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department. By the time the investigation was completed 15 of 17 judges were convicted on corruption charges and led to the formation of Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County, which wrote 165 recommendations for reform in the county court system.

The stiffest prison term went to Judge Reginald Holzer; he received 18 years for accepting $200,000 in bribes from attorneys and others. Another judge, Richard LeFevour, was convicted on 59 counts of racketeering, income tax evasion and mail fraud and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The fallout from Operation Greylord (named after the powdered wigs worn by British judges) led to subsequent investigations such as Operation Silver Shovel.