The Case Against Ald. Carothers

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 28, 2009 7:45PM

U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald announced today the indictment of Ald. Ike Carothers (29th) and Galewood Yards developer Calvin Boender on corruption and bribery charges. Specifically, Carothers was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return and Boender was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of violating federal campaign finance laws, and one count of paying a bribe. According to the U.S. Attorney's press release [PDF]:

The developer, Calvin Boender, allegedly paid for approximately $40,000 in home improvements to Carothers’ residence and provided him with meals and tickets to professional sporting events, which Carothers allegedly illegally accepted, in exchange for Carothers’ official acts supporting successful zoning changes for Galewood Yards, which was the largest undeveloped tract of land within the city limits. Approximately $6 million more was made from the sale of 25 acres of the land than would have been realized without the zoning changes, and Boender allegedly personally profited half of that amount, or approximately $3 million, according to an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury today.

The Sun-Times also has the full indictment [PDF]. The Tribune also featured the controversial Galewood Yards in its "Neighborhoods For Sale" series last year (here and here). [Tribune, Sun-Times]