Cook County Inspector Accused Of Taking Bribes
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Aug 9, 2012 10:20PM
A Cook County inspector was arrested for taking a bribe. You're surprised? You must be new here. Cook County revenue inspector Robert Mitchell was arrested and charged with accepting bribes in exchange for alerting shopkeepers of upcoming inspections.
To make matters worse, Mitchell's job was supposed to be part of an enforcement effort to catch public employees who accept bribes. Two revenue investigators like Mitchell were fired in October for the same thing.
Investigators say Mitchell, 39, offered to tip off a convenience manager to potentially pricey cigarette inspections in exchange for $600 monthly payoffs. Mitchell told the manager to use a pre-paid cellphone, and he texted the manager to tip him off. At least twice, inspections followed. Tribune writes:
The FBI set up an undercover sting operation after the store manager, who was already cooperating with authorities, reported that Mitchell had offered to tip him to inspections for bribes, according to complaint. Working with the FBI, the manager, who had been ticketed for selling cigarettes without proper tax stamps in 2011, secretly video- and audio-recorded the payoffs as he counted out six $100 bills for Mitchell on eight separate occasions, officials allege.