Duff Business Ban Upped from 3 Years to Lifetime
By Margaret Lyons in News on Mar 20, 2008 11:01PM
James Duff, a Daley friend with mob ties who scammed Chicago out of $100 million meant for women and minority-owned companies, has been banned from doing business
with the City for 3 years.
Wait...what?
That was everyone else's reaction, too, after Montel Gayles, the city's chief purchasing officer, and the Department of Procurement made an announcement this morning. Inspector General David Hoffman had recommended a lifetime ban, and after several aldermen and other local politicians publicly denounced the sentence, Gayles changed his mind. His office changed the ban to a lifetime one.
Mayor Daley's chief of staff Lori Healey says the three-year ban was "an unfortunate error," and that the situation is "a little bit of a mess." Gayles says it was just a mistake made in haste to clear the case, and that "based on the conduct of these individuals, they should be permanently disbarred. There's no question about it."