Please read this ,click here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0705091171may10,1,1523150.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed This Chicago Plumbing Inspector had a storied past at the old Chicago Water Department, of course, these are the type that get promoted on a regular basis. Maybe he could help us all figure out the many bribes the different divisions were taking on a regular basis. Some Chicago Plumbing Inspectors could not even get out of their car because they were so obese. The problems with the phony plumbing inspections are major in Chicago. I hope Plumber’s Local 130 can shed some light on this problem, especially with the tapper’s truck and the faxed paperwork. Old Donald had a special concern with the Tappers. Patrick McDonough
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Plumbing inspector took bribes
City worker pleads guilty to payoffs
By Matt O’Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 10, 2007
A plumbing inspector in the city Buildings Department pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted extortion and admitted he pocketed cash payoffs from developers and contractors.
Travis Echols, 41, an 8 1/2 year veteran city worker, acknowledged that he routinely solicited the payoffs to overlook improper plumbing work at construction sites.
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Echols’ guilty plea marks the first conviction in ongoing probes of corruption among Chicago inspectors by federal, county and city investigators. So far, 11 people have been charged, all but two of them city employees.
After he was confronted by the FBI, Echols agreed to cooperate and worked undercover against at least one other city employee, court records show.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly indefinitely postponed Echols’ sentencing until after he completes his cooperation.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a 7 1/2 month prison sentence in return for Echols’ cooperation, according to his plea agreement.
Echols pleaded guilty to accepting a $500 bribe in March 2006 to approve work at a South Side construction site without seeing it.
Concrete had been poured over underground plumbing work, making it impossible for Echols to inspect the work without requiring the developer to tear it up.
Echols objected to language in his plea agreement that indicated he “demanded” the $500 payoff from an employee of the developer to avoid the cost of tearing up the concrete.
“I don’t remember demanding anything,” Echols told the judge.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Alesia agreed to change “demanded” to “requested.”
As part of his plea agreement, Echols acknowledged that he solicited cash payments from developers and contractors on numerous occasions to approve plumbing work that fell short of code.
The plea agreement cited two examples. In one, Echols admitted he accepted $1,000 from the owner of one building to overlook inadequate plumbing work. He also accepted an undisclosed amount of cash to allow renovation work to continue on another project even though the work exceeded the scope of the construction permit.
The plea agreement revealed that Echols had separate convictions in Downstate counties in 1999 for drug possession and driving under the influence of alcohol.
The city placed Echols on paid administrative leave in March.
mo’ connor@tribune.com Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune