(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mario DePasquale, the former police chief of west suburban McCook, has pleaded guilty to an extortion scheme involving the village's former mayor Jeffrey Tobolski and two business owners.
The charges go back to 2015, when federal prosecutors said DePasquale wore his badge and gun during a 2015 meeting in his office, where he demanded monthly payments of $1,000 from a business owner.
In 2016, prosecutors said DePasquale and Tobolski, who also served as the liquor commissioner for McCook, began taking $1,500 from a restaurant that began running themed events involving the sale of alcoholic beverages.
The plea said he and Tobolski collected about $85,000 from the two business owners, who feared they would go out of business if they didn't comply.
DePasquale pleaded guilty to extortion conspiracy in a deal with prosecutors almost three years after a grand jury charged him.
The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
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