Legislature down 1 member as bribery trial starts

By Michael Tarm

Published May 28, 2014 10:12pm ET

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Legislature down 1 member as bribery trial starts — FILE - In this May 21, 2014 file photo, Illinois Rep. Derrick Smith, D-Chicago, listens to lawmakers at the state Capitol in Springfield. Smith is scheduled to go on trial on bribery charges Wednesday, May 28, 2014, with jury selection beginning at federal court in Chicago. He was charged in 2012 with taking a $7,000 bribe from a day care operator seeking a state grant. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File) | Seth Perlman

CHICAGO (AP) — Lawmakers in Springfield scrambling to push through bills in the final days of the spring session are being forced to make do without state Rep. Derrick Smith, whose corruption trial began Wednesday in Chicago.

Smith, 50, is accused of accepting a $7,000 bribe from a day care center seeking a $50,000 state grant — though the facility turned out to be fictitious and part of an FBI sting.

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