Deep Corruption: Ex-top Cook County Circuit Court Clerk official indicted

It's not just the big dogs in Illinois who are indicted. Sometimes an anonymous but senior official is accused of crimes.

That's why I call the status quo in Illinois "Deep Corruption."

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A former high-ranking employee in Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown's office has been indicted for lying under oath to a grand jury about selling tickets for Brown fundraisers to other employees and for helping another employee get a raise based on a family member’s contribution to Brown's campaign fund.

The U.S. Attorney's office on Friday announced a federal indictment against Beena Patel, 55, of Chicago. The former associate clerk, who oversaw about 500 employees for Brown, is charged with three counts of making false declarations before a grand jury. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Patel allegedly lied about knowing whether a high-ranking employee in Brown's office had talked to law enforcement, lied about whether she sold tickets to fundraisers to employees of the clerk’s office and lied about whether she knew that other employees of the clerk’s office sold tickets to and collected money from employees for Brown’s fundraisers.

"Have you ever asked any of the employees who work for you if they wanted to buy tickets to any of these events?" Patel was asked while testifying before the grand jury. She answered, "No."

According to the Sun-Times, Patel claimed that employees got these tickets from a website or at gatherings.

I wonder if there is a Friday, shall I call it an announcement, in Brown's future?

Brown is a Chicago Democrat.

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ILL-inois: Crook County Clerk asked for $10K loan from employee for hubby's biz