Suit filed to keep felon ILL-inois mayor-elect out of office

Here's a story from last week that I meant go get to but didn't. Now I have time.

Markham is a crime-ridden south suburb of Chicago--which is not too far from my hometown of Palos Heights.

So perhaps it's fitting that a convicted felon won this month's mayoral election.

From CBS Chicago:

The Cook County state's attorney's office has filed a lawsuit to keep the newly elected mayor of south suburban Markham from taking the oath of office — an action he was warned about before the election.

The three-count suit, filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks a declaratory judgement from the court that Roger Agpawa is not eligible to hold office as mayor of the city of Markham due to a prior felony conviction. It also seeks an injunction to keep him from taking the oath of office.

Agpawa was elected April 4 with about 72 percent of the vote, according to Cook County election results.

He pleaded guilty to a felony count of mail fraud in federal court on Aug. 30, 1999, according to court documents, and completed a sentence of 36 months of probation and a requirement to perform 200 hours of community service.

One of Agpawa's opponents, Kenneth "Mojo" Muldrow Jr, fought unsuccessfully to have him removed from the ballot. Mojo also has a criminal record, albeit his conviction was for a misdemeanor.