ChicagoClout

America the beautiful,
or so you used to be.
Land of the Pilgrims' pride;
I'm glad they'll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,
Abortion on demand,
Oh, sweet land of liberty;
your house is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly
poisoned by cocaine
choosing to indulge their lusts,
when God has said abstain

From sea to shining sea,
our Nation turns away
From the teaching of God's love
and a need to always pray

We've kept God in our
temples,how callous we have grown.
When earth is but His footstool,
and Heaven is His throne.

We've voted in a government
that's rotting at the core,
Appointing Godless Judges;
who throw reason out the door,

Too soft to place a killer
in a well deserved tomb,
But brave enough to kill a baby
before he leaves the womb.

You think that God's not
angry,that our land's a moral slum?
How much longer will He wait
before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,
from Whom we cannot hide?
What then is left for us to do,
but stem this evil tide?

If we who are His children,
will humbly turn and pray;
Seek His holy face
and mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven;
and forgive us of our sins,
He'll heal our sickly land
and those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful,
If you don't - then you will see,
A sad but Holy God
withdraw His hand from Thee.

~~Judge Roy Moore~~

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, 'How heavy is this glass of water ?'

Answers called out ranged from 250g. to 700g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.'

'If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.'

'In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.'

'As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. '

'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.'

'Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax, pick them up later after you've rested.
Life is short. Enjoy !'

And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

1* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4* Drive carefully.. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.

5* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

9* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

11* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

13* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

15* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

16* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

17* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

18* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today ! ! !

The pd was repired by a company not the DWM. THE CITY HELPS ALL CHURCHES ANYWAY PATTY BOY DIDNT YOU KNOW THAT. IF I RECALL YOU LEFT YOUR ASSIGNED WORK LOKATION TO GO TAKE YOUR PICTURES. PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDNT THROW STONES PATTY BOY......

The Chicago Inspector General will let the thugs at the Water Department off the hook. That was a $40,000.00 dollar job. Taxpayers in Chicago vote the same pigs in. The FEDS must look into this.

I can eat lunch anywhere I want. I get one half an hour for lunch. I like to eat lunch in Bridgeport because the food is so bad it helps me go to the bathroom. It is called separation of church and state. Daley gives millions to west side churches for votes.

my spelling may be off, but im pretty sure that seperation of church and state applies to a totally different idea. why do the people at 39th pray in the middle of the garage on city time? why does the superintendant bid keep going up with no interviews to follow? why did SAC have to move his office? why ?why? oh patty boy why?

(Response) These workers are exercising their 1st amendment rights. We have Muslim workers in the Jardine plant that are also allowed to pray during work hours. I hope you pray once in a while. All interviews are subject close scrutiny, any funny business and the bid is off the table.

I agree everybody gets a half hour lunch. you drove from 31st and Rockwell it takes 17 minutes on a weekend day so I am guessing that it took you at least 17minutes to get to the church you were observed for 20 minutes taking pictures and 17 minutes to get back thats at least 54 minutes just to take pictures. You stated that you like to eat in Bridgeport so Im guessing that would take you another 25 to 30 minutes to eat so how long did you take for lunch ? By the way Roberts friends had the party for him not the church! If your goig to poast a story at leathe facts. P.S. the church paid for the repairs that were done not the city.

(Response) I was on a mission from God. It took five minutes. Please use spell check.

Im sorry for the errors. I will check everything when I post. I guess you realize by now that you screwed up this time! The numbers dont lie. Your mission from god must have included a time machine. All this bullshit coming from a guy that breaks the rules every day. You cry about safety and tell us everything you do to help. The you are only helping your self. Get a life do your job and go home. I could totally understand going after the Mayor and DWM if you really didnt live outside the city, I would be upset my self but you did live outside the city ad are still doing it now. I love your story about how you are seperated from your wife but you still do family things because of yore religion.....Good one did you ever hear the the one about the little boy that cried wolf...That was a good story also, but just like yours its only a story. It at least had a good ending we all know yours will not. liers always get busted and you will too. Do you realize that the only people that agree with you are employees that like you break the rules and then cry when they get busted. I hope you will one day post a story that is true you could do good things with this site

(Response) I let these posts on the my because it proves what many Chicago City Workers think. No matter what you say or do, they accept what a hater idiot tells them. Post your name and stop hiding behind the curtain. What suggestions do you have for stories? Chicago is going to hell in a handbasket, even Daley and his wife took a big hit in money department. Now that the FEDS are watching Daley, you bet the Daley's took a pay cut.

chicagotribune.com
Convictions upheld in City Hall hiring case
4 key Daley aides gave out jobs based on political patronage and nepotism, appellate panel says
By Michael Higgins

Tribune reporter

2:27 PM CDT, April 15, 2008

In a key win for federal prosecutors, an appellate court in Chicago on Tuesday upheld the convictions of four former top aides to Mayor Richard Daley who were convicted in a scheme to rig hiring and promotions at City Hall.

Former Daley patronage chief Robert Sorich and two co-defendants were found guilty in 2006 of doling out jobs to reward members of political armies who campaigned for favored candidates. A fourth defendant was convicted of lying to investigators.

On appeal, lawyers for the former city aides argued that they could not be convicted of criminal fraud because they took no bribes or kickbacks in the scheme.

But in a sharply worded opinion, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals swatted away that argument.

"These defendants were key players in a corrupt and far-reaching scheme, based out of the mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, that doled out thousands of city civil service jobs based on political patronage and nepotism," Judge Ann Williams wrote for the unanimous panel.

The fact that benefits of the scheme flowed to others made the former aides "no less culpable," Williams wrote.

Williams also scoffed at the defendants' argument that the federal mail-fraud law is too vague and didn't put them on notice that what they were doing was wrong.

"It is hard to take too seriously the contention that the defendants did not know that by creating a false hiring scheme that provided thousands of lucrative city jobs to political cronies, falsifying documents and lying repeatedly about what they were doing, they were perpetrating a fraud," Williams wrote in the 29-page opinion.

The ruling means Sorich and Patrick Slattery, former director of staff services in the Department of Streets and Sanitation, may soon have to report to prison.

A federal judge in 2006 sentenced Sorich to 3 years and 10 months in prison and Slattery to 2 years and 3 months in prison, but both were allowed to remain free pending their appeals.

A third defendant, Sorich aide Timothy McCarthy, is currently serving a 19-month sentence.

The appellate court's ruling is an important victory for federal prosecutors in Chicago and elsewhere who bring public corruption cases.

Prosecutors battled with defense lawyers in the case over the proper scope of so-called "honest services" fraud in which public officials are accused of cheating the public out of the right to his or her honest services.

Defense attorneys said the charge couldn't stick because there was no proof their clients took illicit payments in exchange for awarding jobs.

But U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's office argued that the defendants had falsified hundreds of documents -- including job interview rating forms -- and destroyed key records to try to escape detection.

"There is overwhelming evidence that these defendants intended to commit fraud," Assistant U.S. Atty. Barry Miller told the appellate panel in oral arguments.

A fourth defendant, John Sullivan, a former managing deputy for the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, was convicted of lying to federal agents. Sullivan also appealed.

The three-judge panel -- Williams, Daniel Manion and Kenneth Ripple -- heard oral arguments in case in May 2007.

At trial, several current and former city personnel officials testified that they doctored interview-rating forms so people on "blessed lists" from Sorich and McCarthy scored higher than applicants without clout.

Sorich, Slattery and McCarthy have long-standing ties to the Daley family's 11th Ward Democratic Organization. Sullivan is from the Beverly neighborhood.

Daley has denied any knowledge of corruption in his administration. Prosecutors have not accused him of any wrongdoing.

Slattery and Sorich's convictions were upheld by the 7th circuit today. That means those jag-offs are going to jail sooner rather than later, fund raisers or not. look on the trib website

Sorich won't be free much longer.

This just in, Part 2… Sorich conviction upheld

Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008

*** 1:32 pm *** Bob Sorich’s conviction was upheld today…

In a key win for federal prosecutors, an appellate court in Chicago on Tuesday upheld the convictions of four former top aides to Mayor Richard Daley [including former patronage chief Robert Sorich] who were convicted of rigging hiring and promotions at City Hall. […]

On appeal, lawyers for the former city aides argued that they could not be convicted of criminal fraud because they took no bribes or kickbacks in the scheme. But a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

This has got to send a chill down the governor’s spine. There are several tracks to the federal investigation, and Rezko is just one of them. Hiring practices are another.

*** 1:51 pm *** Read the opinion by clicking here.

The centerpiece of their appeal is a challenge to the government’s theory of prosecution: they contend that their behavior, while dubious, is not criminal, and that the honest services mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, is unconstitutionally vague. We conclude that the defendants’
actions do constitute mail fraud, and that the statute is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the facts of this case. The defendants also argue that they did not deprive the city or the people of Chicago of any money or property, but the jobs that they wrongfully gave away were indeed a kind of property, so we reject this argument. Individual defendants also challenge the sufficiency of the indictment, the connection to the mails, and the sufficiency of the evidence against them, while one defendant argues that he was entitled to a sentencing
adjustment for playing a minor role.

Finding none of these arguments persuasive, we affirm on all counts.

- posted by Rich Miller

I see below you are suggesting the city employees bring guns to work. You might want to look at personnel rule 18 that will get you fired. So please pack pat so you can be fired again and this time it will stick. Aside from long lunches better get you on Xora.

(Response) Pack heat this year.

Hey Pat,
Who is this clown? the gut that has all the answers? I take OFFENSE when some one says that I Break Rules !! and cry when I get busted. who the hell are you !!!!! How dare you speak like that about me !!!
Or any other City Worker,
you know nothing about ME, or any other City Worker.
I brought a LAWSUIT against the CITY for RULE 18. ( THE judge RULED IN MY FAVOR saying the city's use of this rule is in violation of federal labor laws) so before you speak, think about what the hell you are saying--SLANDER--
can I make a suggestion to you? BECAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ON HERE, I WILL SUE..............

I would like to address a couple of comments. 1st Robert and Pat are good guys nothing can take that away from them...Its real easy for ill informed people to throw stones...2nd I am not a hater, I am just tired of you stories. You write what ever you assume is the truth and idiots listen to you...How did you get your job Patty Boy? Dont lie we know...You walk around like your a model employee, the truth is you use this site to hold the DWM and its employees hostage...You want to do somthing positive for the taxpayer look at the office supply book who owns the company and how much the city over pays for items from that book...Look at anything the city buys from venders and compare the cost to buying direct...One more thing, in the story about the little boy that cried wolf. In the end he was forced to tell the truth because her was cornered by his lies...

(Response) You are talking about Mayor Daley, right?

Court orders Daley cronies to prison
HIRED TRUCK | Ruling on patronage hiring convictions could jump-start gov probe
April 16, 2008
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters
The federal appellate court in Chicago Tuesday upheld the conviction of four men charged with running the patronage hiring system in Mayor Daley's City Hall.

The ruling sent waves of angst through City Hall, Gov. Blagojevich's office and other government offices where some had hoped the court would find the age-old practice of giving plum government jobs to cronies was legal.

» Click to enlarge image A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the convictions of (from left) Robert Sorich, Tim McCarthy, John Sullivan and Patrick Slattery, all former aides to Mayor Daley, on charges they were part of a scheme to hide political patronage hiring in city government.
(Sun-Times files)

RELATED STORIESPDF: Sorich opinion

The four men, led by Daley's patronage chief Robert Sorich, argued that since the men did not personally profit from the scheme, it wasn't "mail fraud." The court unanimously ruled that it was -- even if the men thought it a fine Chicago tradition to falsify documents to give city jobs to clouted candidates over qualified candidates.

"Robin Hood may be a noble criminal, but he is still a criminal," Judge Ann Claire Williams wrote.

The ruling appears to give a green light to ongoing federal investigations of city, state and county government.

"It is hard to take too seriously the contention that the defendants did not know that by creating a false hiring scheme that provided thousands of lucrative city jobs to political cronies, falsifying documents and lying repeatedly about what they were doing, they were perpetrating a fraud," Williams wrote.

The decision triggered immediate anxiety within Blagojevich's inner circle Tuesday because of the likelihood it could embolden the feds to now aggressively pursue hiring fraud charges against former high-level aides to the governor.

That vein of the federal probe into Blagojevich has been quiet -- at least publicly -- since U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald indicated in June 2006 that his office was investigating charges of "endemic hiring fraud" within the governor's administration.

"I'm sure there are certain people now who are concerned," a Blagojevich loyalist told the Sun-Times.

The conviction hits very close to home for Mayor Daley, a neighbor and family friend to Sorich and his codefendants -- Patrick Slattery and Tim McCarthy, who all grew up in or near Bridgeport. Sorich was once the driver for Daley's brother, John.

Though the highest court in Chicago basically called Daley's hiring office a fraud in the decision, Daley twice refused to take reporters' questions on the ruling at two separate events Tuesday. He read a statement saying, "The court has made its decision, and there is nothing I can add to the legal debate."

He said the city has "moved forward" since the investigation started. "I also must express my concern for the individuals and their families who have been involved in this case," he said.

A Sun-Times investigation that revealed widespread waste and corruption in the $40 million-a-year "hired truck" program started the ball rolling.

Judge Williams noted that, "At that early point in the investigation, the agents focused their questioning on the city 'hired truck' scandal, which turned out to be the wedge that allowed prosecutors to split the log of fraudulent city hiring."

The ruling restarts the prosecution of former Streets & Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, which had been on hold.

Patrick Collins, the lead prosecutor in the Sorich case who is now in private practice, welcomed the ruling.

"In my opinion, the decision that came down today blessed the aggressive posture that the U.S. Attorney's office has taken in corruption cases," he said. "A contrary decision would have had a chilling effect on the future cases considered by the U.S. Attorney's office."

Prosecutors were fearful -- and defense attorneys hopeful -- that the court might throw out the convictions based on a decision last year tossing out a conviction of an aide to the governor of Wisconsin.

"The court went out of its way to distinguish the Sorich case from [the Wisconsin case]," Collins said. "It focused on the massive and systemic nature of the scheme, compared to the sporadic and episodic corruption in [Wisconsin.]"

Williams also wrote, "By setting up a false bureaucracy, the defendants arguably cheated the city out of hundreds of millions of dollars."

Contributing: Natasha Korecki and Dave McKinney

Bridgeport aldermen defends patronage case 'friends'
Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 3:30 p.m.

The alderman of the 11th Ward---Mayor Richard Daley's power base---said Wednesday he would do everything possible to support Robert Sorich and his two other constituents who were convicted in federal court for their roles in the criminal patronage hiring scheme in the mayor's office.

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld the 2006 convictions of Sorich, Timothy McCarthy and Patrick Slattery, who rigged city hiring and promotions to benefit pro-Daley loyalists. Sorich and Slattery are from the mayor’s native Bridgeport neighborhood and McCarthy is from Canaryville, another part of the 11th Ward.

"I'm not ashamed to call them my friends," said Ald. James Balcer (11th), who visited Sorich's mother after the news came out Tuesday.

caHe visited Sorich's mother after the news came out yesterday. "If you're a mother and this is your son, how would you feel? How would anybody feel? Your son’s going away for four years," he said. "And I know Mrs. Sorich and I know the other people and they’re friends. I know their families."

Asked if he was disappointed in his friends, Balcer replied: "If I were disappointed in them, I would say it. They are my friends."

Balcer also said he was "going to try to help their families."

"Morally, prayers, financially – if their families need help and I can give it, I'll give it … I’m going to try to help their families. Guys, I don’t know what else to say?"

No Patty Boy I was talking about you.

I dont know or care about rule 18 and you can try and sue me until the cows come home. I was talking to Patty Boy and all the other liers that post on this site, unless you are one of them please don’t bother me. Ill sue, please! get over your self alredy. You sound like a crybaby……….

I hope you look into the thing I suggested Patty Boy I`m sure with your "super ability to get to the truth" you will make short work of them………

Wow, Robert it shows how stupid you are? or are you playing stupid? It just proves to me that you know nothing about nothing. you just want to bother people try ing to do the right thing here. Let me say something here. you think the Sorich Trail was something. WAIT TILL THE SANCHEZ TRAIL !!!! more HIgher up city Officals will go to JAIL !!!!! can hardly wait !!!!

Patrick: You where hired by the City of Chicago because of your families clout. Both your father and grandfather to be exact.

I find anyone who "blows whistles" to be in contempt themselves.

i am certain that although you may have been qualified at the time of hiring, more than likely it was because you were related. Nepitism has caused tax payers like me to much, just as the scandals have.

(Response) I cannot agree with your assumption.

So sorich and company are off to prison. By the damning report from the appeals court decisions it is clear that they knew they would uphold the conviction. What the 3 judges done was help Daley stall this whole investigation by 2 years. Thats why Patrick ran away to the army, to further stall this whole thing. Daley is stalling and he got the judges to buy him 2 years. pretty good. He knows its coming to get him and he is gonna drag it all out. Now we know. Those judges should have ruled a year ago. You catch my drift i'm sure.

Hey all City of Chicago Employees are covered by Personnel Rule and the 54 subsection. Whether you have filed frivilous lawsuits or not or filed merit law suits. You are not exempted from these rules. Bring a gun to work you will be fired.

Oh threaten another lawsuit, I am scared. Every has the right to blog/post. In a law suit like that there will be three people getting paid, your lawyer, my lawyer and me by you. If your current suit against local 726 is any guide to you legal claims. I cant wait for you to sue and me to collect. Or better yet since I am exposing corruption here know you are harrassing a whistleblower. I smell $$$ comming from you.

Hey Pat,
Who is this clown? the gut that has all the answers? I take OFFENSE when some one says that I Break Rules !! and cry when I get busted. who the hell are you !!!!! How dare you speak like that about me !!!
Or any other City Worker,
you know nothing about ME, or any other City Worker.
I brought a LAWSUIT against the CITY for RULE 18. ( THE judge RULED IN MY FAVOR saying the city's use of this rule is in violation of federal labor laws) so before you speak, think about what the hell you are saying--SLANDER--
can I make a suggestion to you? BECAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ON HERE, I WILL SUE..............

(Response) ??????

Two men convicted in a corruption scheme rooted in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s administration are getting ready to report to jail.

This morning, a federal judge ordered Robert Sorich and Patrick Slattery to report to prison by noon on Monday. That’s after an appeals court upheld their convictions earlier this week. Sorich and Slattery were among a group of four men found guilty in 2006.

Their crimes were part of a corruption scheme that revolved around Mayor Daley’s administration. That scheme manipulated city hiring, to funnel jobs and promotions to political allies of the Mayor. Sorich was Daley’s so-called patronage chief, and one of the mayor’s top lieutenants.

He’s facing the longest sentence of the group: three years and ten months. Attorneys for Sorich and Slattery say they plan to continue their appeals after reporting to prison next week.

Sorich, Slattery To Report To Prison Monday
CHICAGO (STNG) ― Two men convicted in a City Hall patronage hiring scheme under Mayor Daley are expected to report to prison Monday morning.

U.S. District Judge David Coar ordered Mayor Daley's former patronage chief Robert Sorich and city worker Patrick Slattery to report to prison Monday after a federal appellate court in Chicago upheld their convictions.

Sorich, Slattery and Timothy McCarthy were convicted of running the patronage hiring system out of City Hall. A fourth man, John Sullivan, was convicted of lying to authorities. Sullivan and McCarthy have already served their terms.

Both Sorich and Slattery are expected to do their time at Oxford Prison Camp in Wisconsin.

Sorich's lawyer, Tom Durkin, said his client is prepared to serve his sentence.

"He wants to start his sentence and put this chapter of his life behind him," Durkin said. "That doesn't mean he won't stop fighting."

Slattery lawyer Patrick Blegen noted that both defendants have petitioned for a hearing en banc, which means they're asking the entire federal appeals court to reconsider their case, not just the three-judge panel.

"We're going to continue to fight for Mr. Slattery's case. I believe in his innocence," Blegen said. "We're hopeful a higher court will agree with us one day."

Two former aides to Mayor Richard Daley—Robert Sorich and Patrick Slattery—are set to report to prison Monday, after an appellate court Thursday rejected Slattery's bid to remain free while he fights to overturn his conviction.

Former Daley patronage chief Sorich and co-defendant Slattery were found guilty in 2006 in a scheme to rig hiring at City Hall.

The two men were allowed to remain free on bond while they appealed. But a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed their convictions earlier this week, and on Thursday, both U.S. District Judge David Coar and the appellate court refused to extend their bonds.

Sorich is prepared to continue his legal fight from behind prison walls, his attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, said Thursday.

"Robert wants to surrender," Durkin said. "He's a relatively young man. He would like to put this episode behind him."

Sorich and Slattery have been assigned to a federal prison camp in Oxford, Wis., their attorneys said.

Both Sorich and Slattery will ask the full 7th Circuit to rehear their case and, if that fails, seek review before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nation's highest court accepts very few cases, Durkin acknowledged.

"As the process goes on, the funnel gets a lot more narrow, and your odds greatly decrease," Durkin said.

Sorich was sentenced to 3 years, 10 months in prison and Slattery was sentenced to 2 years, 3 months.

They were convicted of ensuring that jobs and promotions were reserved for members of pro-Daley political armies that helped the mayor's endorsed candidates.

Former Daley aides to report to prison Monday

April 17, 2008Recommend (12)

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com
Two men convicted in a City Hall patronage hiring scheme under Mayor Daley are expected to report to prison Monday morning.

U.S. District Judge David Coar ordered Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, and city worker Patrick Slattery to report to prison Monday, after a federal appellate court in Chicago upheld the conviction.

Sorich, Slattery Timothy McCarthy were convicted of running the patronage hiring system out of City Hall. A fourth man, John Sullivan, was convicted of lying to authorities. Sullivan and McCarthy have already served their terms.

Both Sorich and Slattery are expected to do their time at Oxford Prison Camp in Wisconsin.

Sorich’s lawyer, Tom Durkin, said his client is prepared to serve his prison sentence.

“He wants to start his sentence and put this chapter of his life behind him,” Durkin said. “That doesn’t mean he won’t stop fighting.”

Slattery lawyer Patrick Blegen noted that both defendants have petitioned for a hearing en banc, which means they’re asking the entire federal appeals court to reconsider their case, not just the three-judge panel.

“We’re going to continue to fight for Mr. Slattery‚s case. I believe in his innocence,” Blegen said. “We’re hopeful a higher court will agree with us one day.”

Bridgeport prays for Sorich, Slattery
PATRONAGE | Former Daley allies headed to prison

April 17, 2008Recommend (24)

BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter spatterson@suntimes.com
Parishioners said a prayer for two of their own during the Wednesday morning mass at Nativity of Our Lord in Bridgeport.

It was a somber prayer for two who've been wronged, the priest said, asking the Lord to watch over them as they begin a challenging journey.

Robert Sorich and Patrick Slattery are preparing to spend years in prison -- beginning this weekend -- after their public corruption convictions were upheld this week by a federal court. The former top allies to Mayor Daley were convicted of running a patronage army out of City Hall.

But don't call them criminals in the 11th Ward. Everyone here simply knows them as good, solid boys from the neighborhood. And their families will be taken care of while the two are gone.

"They're my friends and I will try to help their families in this time of need," Ald. James Balcer (11th) said. "Morally, prayers, financially -- if their families need help and I can give it, I'll give it."

Daley is saying little about the pending prison terms and wouldn't take questions about it Wednesday.

But Balcer's impassioned defense of Sorich, set to serve four years, and Slattery, serving 27 months, represented many voices from the neighborhood.

The Rev. Dan Brandt led prayers at Nativity for the two "as we would for anyone who's been a victim of any type of miscarriage or error, and for anyone who's sick or going away to the hospital or going away to this kind of thing. It's just sad."

He said parishioners are "hoping something will be reversed in the future and come out right."

"But for now, they'll go where they're sent," he said. "They're obeying as a sheep would his shepherd. But usually the shepherd has the best in mind for their sheep. That doesn't seem to be the case here."

He knows of no plans yet to hold another fund-raiser like the one last year held for the families.

On Tuesday, as the court decision was handed down, Balcer met with Sorich's mother, a beloved Bridgeport figure described by friends as tough and independent.

Marge Mossman lives across the street from Sorich's mother and has known her for 40 years.

"Her heart will be broken" by this, Mossman said. "It makes me sick. [Sorich has] never done anything to hurt anyone."

Asked if she expected him to cooperate and tell secrets he may know, Mossman scoffed.

"Robert will never talk," she said. "He'll take it to the grave. He would never say anything bad about anybody."

Contributing: Stefano Esposito

Rolodex of clout: Contacts convicted patronage chief kept
ROBERT SORICH | Here's whose numbers convicted patronage chief kept handy

April 17, 2008Recommend (25)

BY TIM NOVAK
In the age of the BlackBerry, a Rolodex is an awfully old-fashioned way of keeping track of phone numbers.

But then, Mayor Daley's former patronage director, Robert Sorich, is an old-fashioned guy.

RELATED STORIESBridgeport prays for Sorich, Slattery

Sorich kept an extensive Rolodex filled with 300 names and telephone numbers -- until his Rolodex was seized by FBI agent John Hauser on April 29, 2005, in a raid on Sorich's fourth-floor office at City Hall.

That Rolodex, and all of its index cards, became part of the criminal case against Sorich, 45, who was convicted last year of illegally doling out City Hall jobs and promotions to those who helped Daley and other politicians win elections.

Still packed in its plastic evidence bag, Sorich's Rolodex was among the exhibits examined by the U.S. Court of Appeals in rejecting his appeal Tuesday -- a ruling that means he must start serving his four-year prison sentence.

So who's in his Rolodex?

Scores of political operatives, mostly from the Daley family's 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization. A few guys who were involved in the city's Hired Truck Program, including three who went to prison. Several members of the once-powerful Hispanic Democratic Organization. A few members of the Daley family. Some flower shops. And a few Soriches, too.

Here's a glimpse at some of the names in Sorich's Rolodex:

• • State Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago), a longtime HDO member and Chicago cop who once got arrested in a scuffle at a police auto pound.

• • Al Boumenot, former city budget director under Mayor Jane Byrne. He now works for the company that financed the renovation of Soldier Field.

• • John Briatta, a brother-in-law of mayoral brother/Cook County Commissioner John Daley. Briatta went to prison for taking bribes in the Hired Truck Program.

• • Michael Broderick, a former campaign manager for the mayor who's now a lobbyist at City Hall.

• • Ron Calicchio, a top official in the city Revenue Department who runs the Coalition for Better Government, a Northwest Side patronage army.

• • John Cannatello, a Bridgeport native who paid bribes so city officials in the Hired Truck Program would hire the company he ran under his wife's name.

• • Angelo "Packy" Ciaravino, an assistant commissioner in the city's General Services Department and voter registrar for the 11th Ward Democratic Organization.

• • John Daley, who also runs the 11th Ward Democratic Organization.

• • Timothy Degnan, the mayor's longtime friend and political adviser.

• • Thomas DiPiazza, a Bridgeport developer and Degnan business partner. Reached on his cell phone Wednesday, DiPiazza called Sorich "a great person'' and declined to comment further.

• • Joe Feldman, the Bridgeport News publisher who also had a company in the Hired Truck Program.

• • Tony Fratto, who was city comptroller under Byrne and now works for the company that financed the renovation of Soldier Field.

• • Hamburg Club, a Bridgeport institution and popular hangout.

• • Flo Hooker, a city transportation official who testified about the illegal hiring scheme.

• • Former Ald. Patrick Huels (11th), who resigned after the Chicago Sun-Times disclosed that he took a million-dollar loan from Michael Tadin, the trucking magnate who got a city loan with Huels' help. Huels runs SDI Security, whose clients include U.S. Cellular Field.

• • Thomas Hynes, former Cook County assessor.

• • State Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago), whose father, Jeremiah Joyce, is one of the mayor's closest political advisers.

• • Former city Clerk Jim Laski, who recently finished a stint in prison for taking bribes from friends who got work in the Hired Truck Program.

• • Christopher Kozicki, a recently resigned city official who rigged test scores allowing a union boss' teenage son to land a job as a building inspector. He's also a registrar for the 11th Ward Democratic Organization.

• • Ronald Marasso, a son-in-law of the late Ald. Fred Roti who works at McCormick Place.

• • Tim McCarthy, a former official in the mayor's patronage office convicted of rigging city hiring tests, now wrapping up his sentence.

• • Tim Mitchell, superintendent of the Chicago Park District who formerly ran a lakefront patronage army.

• • John Molloy, the mayor's economic development coordinator and a voter registrar for the 11th Ward Democratic Organization.

• • David Ochal, the first deputy city aviation commissioner who once caught heat for installing a pool that flooded his neighbors' yards. He also ran a patronage army.

• • Victor Reyes, former head of the mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, founder of HDO, and City Hall lobbyist.

• • Shinnick's Tavern, a popular Bridgeport hangout.

• • Mike Shine, a top deputy to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

• • Pat Slattery, a former city Streets and Sanitation official convicted of rigging city hiring tests.

• • James Stroden, the city's sewer superintendent, who drew a 60-day suspension for using city equipment on a construction project at his Bridgeport home 10 years ago.

• • John Whirity, a city Water Management Department foreman from Bridgeport who was fired last year for having someone swipe him in and out of work. Whirity -- also an 11th Ward voter registrar -- appealed and got his job back.

• • Alexander Vroustouris, the mayor's former inspector general, who was forced out amid the Hired Truck scandal.

HDO Connections

How come somebody has not mentioned the fact that the recently indicted John Resa is Al Sanchez's Cousin?
Al Sanchez's mother maiden name is Mary Resa...The now Mary (Resa)Sanchez works in Alderman John Pope's office as a secretary and has been there for at least 5 years. I thought city employees have to live in the City of Chicago because Mary Sanchez lives in Hammond, Indiana?

The article came out about a city inspector who got indicted and was found guilty ? His name is Miguel Diaz! Nobody mentioned he is HDO?

One more important issue! An article came out it the paper last week about a principal from a southside high school! George Washington H.S. (10th Ward)! The name of the new principal is Florence (Flo) Gonzalez and she is Al Sanchez's fiance. She has been Al Sanchez's girlfriend for about 7 years.

Al Sanchez's son Mathew(Matt)Sanchez got a full scholarship from State Representative Eddie Acevedo... (each Rep. is given four full scholarships a year) Al Sanchez had Matthew Sanchez lye on his application by saying he lived in Eddie Acevedo's district...I believed he used the address of the now indicted Aaron Delvalle who lives in Pilsen?

What ever happened to the article about "votes for city services?"

chicagotribune.com
Chicago's new hiring regulator steers clear of Sorich controversy
By Hal Dardick and Michael Higgins

Tribune reporters

10:05 PM CDT, April 17, 2008

The city's new hiring regulator held his first ethics training session for Mayor Richard Daley's cabinet Thursday, the same day a federal court ordered the mayor's former patronage chief to prison for running an illegal hiring scheme out of City Hall.

But Anthony Boswell deflected questions about the rigged hiring investigation that led Daley to establish the Office of Compliance, prompting skepticism from City Council critics who question Boswell's independence.

"I'm not quite aware of all the details of the trial," Boswell said, when asked about Daley's reluctance to denounce former patronage chief Robert Sorich and three other administration officials following their 2006 convictions.

"I was not around when the Sorich trial took place," he added. "I'm sorry I can't speak to the details. You'll have to speak to other officials about that. But my concern is this compliance program, and the mayor has expressed significant support."

Earlier Thursday, a U.S. district judge ordered Sorich and co-defendant Patrick Slattery to report to prison on Monday.

Sorich faces a 3-year, 10-month sentence, and Slattery was sentenced to 2 years, 3 months.

An appellate court turned down Slattery's bid to remain free while he pursues further appeals. Sorich and Slattery plan to ask the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear their case and, if that fails, seek review before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Boswell's comments concerned several aldermen who have worried the mayor's new compliance department would short-circuit the work of the independent inspector general's office.

"I find it hard to believe that anyone dealing with issues of hiring, code of conduct and compliance would not know about the case," said Ald. Ricardo Muñoz (22nd). "I suggest he review the conduct that the court and a jury found in violation of the public trust because that is what we want to root out."

Boswell, a lawyer from Denver, has overseen compliance offices for large private companies. After his morning training session with top Daley aides, he unveiled a 25-page Code of Conduct for city workers that includes prohibitions against pressuring employees to do political work and a declaration that the city "does not tolerate unlawful political influence in any employment actions."

All city employees, contractors and "other officers of the city" must comply with the code, Boswell said.

""We are here to slowly change the culture," Boswell said. "That doesn't mean there won't be problems from time to time."

Bruce: I thought I told you already to stop bothering me with your foolish remarks! I dont care what you are trying to do... I dont know you and really dont care about your problems. I do however have a problem with people that hide behind lies, pretend to be helping the city and break the rules while pointing the finger at everyone. I realize you think Patty Boy is a stand up guy because he blew the wistle, the problem is Patty Boy used the as a threat to get his job back...He called the commissioners office everyday say he would go to the press with what he knew is he didnt get his job back. After he was told he would not get his jo back he called the press. Nothing stand up about that. choose your friends wisely Bruce...It truely is you who knows nothing. You may be trying to do good things but you have teamed up with thw wrong guy...Patty Boy is only looking out for himself. I am in no way on the Mayors side but do you really think this site and the clown running it will ever change anything. If he was truely a standup guy maybe but we all know he is nothing more then a snake oil peddler....

(Response) I am all for free speech...I am paying for this. WOW!!!

Sorich goes to prison Monday
CITY HALL | Ex-patronage chief to keep fighting conviction

April 18, 2008Recommend (5)

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com
Two men convicted in an an illegal City Hall patronage hiring scheme under Mayor Daley are expected to report to prison Monday morning.

U.S. District Judge David Coar ordered Mayor Daley's former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, and another former city worker, Patrick Slattery, to report to prison Monday, after a federal appellate court in Chicago upheld the convictions.

Sorich, Slattery and Timothy McCarthy were convicted of running the illegal hiring system. A fourth man, John Sullivan, was convicted of lying to authorities. Sullivan and McCarthy have already served their terms. Sorich and Slattery are expected to do their time at Oxford Prison Camp in Wisconsin.

Sorich's lawyer, Tom Durkin, said, "He wants to start his sentence and put this chapter of his life behind him. That doesn't mean he won't stop fighting."

Slattery's lawyer, Patrick Blegen, noted that both defendants have petitioned for the entire federal appeals court to reconsider their case, not just the three-judge panel that denied their appeals.

"We're going to continue to fight for Mr. Slattery's case. I believe in his innocence," Blegen said. "We're hopeful a higher court will agree with us one day."

chicagotribune.com
Daley distancing machine in overdrive after legal loss
John Kass

April 16, 2008

The mayor of Chicago stood in an alley near the Chicago Theatre and read a statement on Tuesday after his fall guys lost their federal appeal to stay out of prison.

They helped build him an illegal patronage army of city workers paid for by tax dollars that gave him absolute control over Chicago, Cook County and beyond, in direct defiance of federal court orders prohibiting such patronage.

But he didn't call his guys by name. Instead, he called them "the individuals," like he was reading a police report.

"As always, I will continue my efforts to move this great city forward," Richard M. Daley said in the evening, the long shadows growing, the city turning gray, as he recited how he's cleaned up things.

"At the same time, I also must express my concern for the individuals and their families who have been involved in this case," he said.

The Individuals. It sounds like the name of a prison garage band.

The individuals labored for years on this illegal operation, some rigging test scores, falsifying applications, and others lying to federal investigators to protect the scheme. Though they didn't exactly break their backs for the mayor, they broke something else—their time.

Though they'll get years in federal prison for making him a powerful man, he couldn't even call his loyal dogs by name: He didn't say Robert Sorich or Patrick Slattery or John Sullivan or Timothy McCarthy, who unlike the others is already serving time.

"Individuals" he calls them, formally anonymous now, less human and more abstract, in the way of men who go away to serve their emperor. They'll read the papers in some prison future and see which mayoral nephew makes a fortune on this pension deal and which mayoral crony makes a fortune on that one, and who enjoys a meal at Cafe Bionda or Tavern on Rush.

Tuna is the currency in federal prison these days, or so I hear, and after a few years, it probably tastes lousy. So perhaps Sorich's real boss, mayoral brain Tim Degnan, can bring him a few slices of Connie's Pizza for old time's sake.

What's clear to me is that the indicted former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez—a henchman of the Hispanic Democratic Organization or better yet, the Hispanic Daley Organization—should prepare himself.

I don't think Al will like to be called "the individual," especially now. But he should make himself ready to be called "the individual" someday by the mayor, just in case.

It's all moving forward, now, finally, because of that 3-0 decision issued Tuesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, a decision that all of political Chicago has been anticipating since Sorich and the other individuals were convicted 651 days ago.

Daley's hunger for illegal patronage cost taxpayers $12 million to settle federal complaints against his administration, not $75 million as I mistakenly reported the other day. But $12 million is bad enough. Though Daley was the direct beneficiary of the scheme, it didn't come out of his pocket. It was all paid for by taxpayers.

Does the mayor know how to spell RICO?

City Hall argued that Sorich and the others did not personally gain by their crimes. But the jury didn't buy it, and neither did the appellate court, which on Tuesday upheld a vital concept:

Americans have a right to expect honest service from elected officials, and that just because a politician doesn't put cash in his pocket, it doesn't mean he or she isn't part of a corrupt scheme to defraud the people.

"The beating heart of this fraudulent scheme was the mayor's office of Intergovernmental Affairs … informally, the office coordinated a sizable portion of the city's civil service hiring, ferreting out jobs to foot soldiers in the mayor's campaign organization and to other cronies," Judge Ann Williams wrote in her opinion.

Corruption isn't just about exchanging a fat envelope stuffed with cash. That's unsophisticated, and unworthy of the brains that run things now. It is about power and leveraging government, in licensing, in development, investments, massive tax and airport deals. But no leverage can be applied without political control. That comes from the patronage armies.

Some of the city jobs went to certified morons. Others went to criminals, schemers, HDO tough guys, even teenage building inspectors given life-or-death responsibility, though they lived at home playing video games.

If the appellate court had ruled for Daley's guys, "it would have sent a very different chilling message to the U.S. attorney's office about the types of public corruption cases the office chooses to bring," said former Assistant U.S. Atty. Patrick Collins, a prosecutor in the Sorich case, who has gone into private practice.

"What the court found is interesting, that we have a form of corruption where the true recipients of corrupt schemes are not always the defendants themselves, but that they are doing it for their patron, for a third party," Collins said.

Gee. Who's he talking about?

Maybe the individuals know.

Hey all you Daley bagmen who are weak on your own! Sorich is gonna be indicted again! Remember how Ryans protege got indicted while he was serving time for his first offense. Then he flipped on Ryan, well Sorich you as%h*&e. Hey Sorich you jerk! When you drop the soap in the shower don't bend down to pick it up or else your gonna be walking like a lady. Your gonna get indicted again you crook. you are gonna be in jail for 10 you jerk. And Daley deep inside knows your his foolish quack.

hey Robert, the guy who just posted, at least we got the balls to speak up pal.

Acountability in the Daley administration no longer exsists. It's now time for new leadership and the fact that Jessie jr. aint shwn himself to be worthy I still support him right now. I guess he has a hard job on his hands taking on a crooked administration who destroys his competition with our tax dollars. Weell my gut tells me it's now a new day. I am fed up with Daley building mansions everywhere to squeeze out the working poor. Why is a heartless crooked man still allowed to roam free? Change will happen in this next election cycle. The laws of rightness has to finally prevail. Daley told the appeals court to stall the Sorich decision for a few years and they did, because daley is the feds target and the only way Daley can survive is to stall the process. but Fitzgerald is not dumb. He needs to put more angents on and bring this heartless bastard down now!

Hey TOM RYAN:
very good post, the basterd should go to jail!!
Do you know how many City Workers hate Daley?? thousands?
we all will celebrate when he goes to jail. What should of happened was make Daley pay a part of the 12 million settlement.

Thank God for the freedom of speech under the constitution and now the internet age because without it there is no way that john Kass could get the word out alone. I was raised in a family where my grandfather and uncle were precint captains under the first mayor Daley and we were a family who was proud to have Daley in our blood. My grandmother cried when mayor Daley died in 1976 so i knew to respect the Daleys.By 2000 it was all over. I recognized that The present Daley was about giving a caring speech for the poor before every election then getting elected and throwing the poor and middle class out of the city. The mans face tells a story everytime I see him on tv. He has a cloud swirling around him and the tenseness in him means the gig is up. He is working damn hard to delay the inevidable. And you can bet your bottom dollar that when obama is the democratic nominee Daley will campaign across the country to try and get him elected so that the a president Obama could get the heat off of him.

(Response) Daley is the master of using taxpayer money and contractor kickbacks for politiciial gain. Chicago is for the rich, period.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Daley's former patronage chief Robert Sorich begins his nearly four year prison sentence today.
Sorich is expected to report to the federal prison camp in Oxford, Wisconsin. He was convicted of rigging the city's hiring system to favor those with political clout.
Sorich's defense attorney is petitioning the entire federal appeals court to reconsider the case. He argues that, unlike other high-profile political corruption cases, Sorich never took a bribe.

(Copyright ©2008 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved

"....Sorich never took a bribe."

Gee, he had a well paid job, didn't he?

He was part a and parcel to a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers, wasn't he?

He enjoyed many benefits as a result of his loyal participation, didn't he?

So, what part of being a crook didn't he qualify for?

Well Patrick I hear that you are related to Jack O'malley the former states attorney of Cook County and that you tell some of your family that you are a Chicago cop (are you embarrassed to be a plumber)are either of these two things that I have been told about you true????

(Response) Hmmmmmm? Silly, Silly, Silly.

I finally get the feeling the clock has begun ticking for the daily administration. The feds are on the move. And I think the son Patrick Daley is gonna get busted first, very soon now too. The army is a stall tactic of some kind. tic toctic toc tic