Longtime IL Democratic state senator and member of ethics committee charged with tax evasion

Illinois state senator Terry Link (D-Indian Creek), who had been in office since 1997, resigned today after being charged with federal tax evasion.

From the Illinois Policy Institute:

Last fall, Link was identified as the state senator who wore a wire for the FBI and captured former state Rep. Luis Arroyo offering him a bribe. It was believed Link agreed to wear the wire in exchange for a lighter sentence on his own pending charges.

Link until Aug. 13 served on the Legislative Ethics Commission, which the former legislative inspector general said blocked her from pursuing wrongdoing by lawmakers. Link resigned from the commission after he was charged.

Arroyo and Link met at a Highland Park restaurant last August where the two discussed support for Arroyo's gambling legislation, according to a Chicago Tribune report. They then went outside and Arroyo offered Link a bribe. Link was wearing a wire for the FBI.

'I’m going to give you this here. This is, this is, this is the jackpot,' Arroyo said as he handed Link a bribe of $2,500, with a promise for monthly payments of the same amount.

Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, was arrested last autumn; he's charged with bribing a state official.

In little over a year three Illinois state senators, all Dems, have been charged with crimes.