Stay Classy, Scott Fawell

By Margaret Lyons in News on Sep 15, 2004 4:55PM

Scott Fawell pleaded guilty yesterday to bid-rigging plots and is apparently dishing all kinds of shit on George Ryan and Lawrence Warner. In exchange, prosecutors have agreed to seek a reduced sentence of 6 months (down from 18) for Fawell's fiancée and former aide, Alexandra "Andrea" Coutretsis.

Fawell pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud yesterday in connection with "leaking inside bid information…on an $11.5 million contract to oversee expansion at McCormick Place." His admission included info on steering ATM contracts for Navy Pier and food-service contracts for Navy Pier and McCormick toward clients of his friend former state representative Alfred Ronan.

After Fawell had learned he was a target of a federal investigation, he also improperly spent McPier funds to conduct electronic sweeps of his office to find out whether authorities were electronically eavesdropping, he admitted.

Well done, Scooter. Fawell is already serving 6 1/2 years in a prison in South Dakota following his March 2003 conviction for racketeering and fraud. The sketch is from that trial, but we thought it conveyed the right amount of grumpiness and resignation for this stage of his legal proceedings too.

Part of Fawell's plea agreement is that he is now eligible for a 6-month reduction in his sentence, and if he provides "substantial assistance to prosecutors" (and a federal judge signs off on it), he will serve no additional sentence for the bid-rigging. His plea bargain also allowed for him to wear a suit to court instead of an orange prisoner jumpsuit, and for him to get direct transportation from Yankton, where he's currently serving his federal time.

Everyone loves a political soap opera. We also love inappropriate ad placement. The Trib article's online version cycles through a bunch of ads, including some for eHarmony. Those ads include pictures of brides and grooms gleefully smooching and holding each other, like "Yay, we're so happy, we in luuuuve", and we can't help but bitterly chuckle. Love isn't getting hooked up on eHarmony—it's helping your also-indicted fiancée get a reduced federal prison sentence (you hope) by spilling the beans on your old boss and your wide-spread, costly scams in one of the biggest corruption shake-downs in recent memory. Can you get that engraved on a ring or something?