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(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The mayor of southwest suburban Crestwood faces a federal bribery charge that centers on the red-light camera company SafeSpeed, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
The red-light camera company provided camera services to Crestwood that enabled the village to issue tickets to motorists for certain traffic violations.
Mayor Louis Presta asked for and accepted benefits from representatives of the company, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
The 69-year-old is also charged with filing false tax returns and lying to the FBI and IRS in connection to money he allegedly took in a 2018 meeting with a SafeSpeed representative, according to the report.
“Presta denied receiving gifts, cash, or campaign contributions from the red-light camera company,” federal prosecutors said.
When shown a recording of a meeting in which Presta allegedly accepted an envelope containing $5,000 in cash, he falsely stated that there was no money in the envelope, the indictment states.
The indictment is the latest public sign of federal investigators’ ongoing public corruption investigations. Last month, ComEd was charged with soliciting bribes to Illinois officials.
Presta was elected Crestwood mayor in April 2013, according to a political candidate Facebook page, “Lou Can Do!”
“Since taking office, Mayor Presta's vision has helped his community to flourish,” a bio on the page states.