A former Illinois mayor pleaded guilty to corruption charges on Wednesday, a day after he resigned from office.
Louis Presta, the former mayor of Crestwood, Illinois, admitted to U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin that he sought cash payments from a representative at SafeSpeed, a red-light camera company. He then pleaded guilty to a bribery and official misconduct count, as well as to filing a false income tax return. If charged, he could face a prison sentence of two years or more, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Presta has faced a federal indictment since August 2020 charging him with bribery, filing false tax returns, and lying to the FBI and IRS. The indictment said Presta sought and received benefits from SafeSpeed representatives while SafeSpeed sought to expand its services in Crestwood, the outlet reported.
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The indictment also accused Presta of lying about whether an envelope he took during a March 2018 meeting with a SafeSpeed representative had been stuffed with $5,000 in cash. In addition, Presta was accused of filing false income tax returns for the years 2015 and 2018, as well as failing to file an income tax return for 2014, the indictment stated.
Presta admitted during Wednesday’s hearing that he sought donations to his campaign for Cook County commissioner amid the scheme, at one point telling a SafeSpeed representative, “You got a new sheriff in town.”
SafeSpeed has not been charged with a crime, and the firm has portrayed a former partner there as a rogue actor, according to the outlet.
Crestwood attorney Burt Odelson said a special meeting is planned for Nov. 23 in the village to try to pick an acting mayor to serve in Presta’s place until the municipal election in April 2023, the outlet reported.
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The Crestwood Police Department did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
