Joe Berrios' Name Comes Up In Bribery Trial
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 23, 2013 4:30PM
Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios
Berrios, it should be noted, has not been accused of any wrongdoing (at least none that could stick in a court of law) but Tommy Hawkins and John Racsai were each recorded on wiretaps repeatedly implicating the assessor in the scheme.
According to prosecutors, one September 2008 recording revealed Hawkins telling a corrupt Chicago police officer he was “with Berrios... having lettuce salads”—code for accepting cash bribes. The officer, Ali Haleem, was recording the conversations for the FBI.
"This is the move...Joe's gonna run for assessor...he's gonna win. And then he's gonna appoint his top deputy for commissioner. So now Joe's gonna get paid double. He's gonna get paid for raising taxes and lowering (them)."
Hawkins and Racsai are former employees of Cook County Board of Review commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. The two are accused of $1,500 from Haleem in exchange for a favorable reduction in property tax assessments from Berrios, who was also on the Board of Review at the time. The Board of Review hears property tax appeals and has been long accused of being rampant with wrongdoing.