ILL-inois: Crooked Chicago pol collected $2 million pension

Former Cook County Clerk Morgan Finley was not one of those 2016 deaths people mourned, outside of family members.

Even in death Finley, a Democrat who learned his trade from the first Mayor Daley in the Chicago South Side Bridgeport neighborhood, is an embarrassment to Illinois.

From the Watchdogs at the Chicago Sun-Times:

Sentencing Finley in 1989 to 10 years in prison for racketeering and attempted extortion, a federal judge told him, "What an honor it was to hold your office, but you made it a "monument" to "corruption."

The lengthy sentence also took into account allegations Finley threatened an FBI agent while the trial was going on.

Despite going to prison, Finley's government pension checks kept coming for decades, until his death in September at 91. Altogether, he collected nearly $2 million over the years, according to pension fund records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

And the pension checks continue, though at a reduced rate, even after his death: His widow gets survivor's benefits starting at around $5,500 a month, pension records show.