(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Convicted former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke is throwing a Hail Mary to avoid being sentenced to prison four months from now.
The 80-year-old Burke was convicted in December on 13 of the 14 counts against him. Among the most serious charges: extortion and racketeering, each of which carry sentences of up to 20 years behind bars.
Other charges carry sentences of up to five and 10 years each.
Burke’s lawyers have filed a 36-page motion with Federal Judge Virginia Kendall, in which they asked her to throw out the guilty verdicts or to order a new trial.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in late June.
Burke was found guilty of shaking down or corruptly soliciting the Field Museum, the developer of the Old Main Post Office and the owner of a Burger King on the Southwest Side.
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