CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Roberto Caldero was among those caught on a hidden camera by FBI informant and former alderman Danny Solis.
The 70-year-old, longtime political operative was working on behalf of a company seeking a $1 billion janitorial contract with Chicago Public Schools.
Caldero told Solis he could fund five years of retirement with the kickback he was expecting.
“You were bribing a public official to set you up for five years, and I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be poetic if the bribe for a five-year retirement plan turned into five years in the federal penitentiary,” U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger said, according to the Sun-Times.
There was also a plan to give Solis campaign donations to rename a park for a relative, Oscar D’Angelo, a judge convicted of taking bribes.
“The case involves bribing a public official to rename a park, and the park is named for a public official involved in corruption,” Seeger said. “You can’t make that up. Only in Chicago.”
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