Jun 16, 2009 11:48 am US/Central
Former County Staffer Cole Was Paid While In Jail
Cole Was Released Monday In Most Recent Case
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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New revelations indicate that former Cook County staffer Tony Cole was paid while in jail.
Cook County Sheriff's Office
Sparks could fly at Tuesday's Cook County Board meeting, after the man in the middle of a hiring scandal was released from jail, and new revelations said he still collected a paycheck while incarcerated.
Tony Cole held a $61,000-a-year county job, but he was fired by County Board President Todd Stroger for failing to report a felony conviction on his job application. He had been convicted of writing bad checks.
"Taxpayers really should be outraged that at this time in our economic situation monies are being spent on a two-time felon who was charged and put in jail twice within a month after her was hired and is given a promotion on top of it? This is only happening in Cook County, nowhere else in the world," Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica said. "I am outraged."
"My understanding is that the state's attorney's office is investigating. I think that's pretty serious allegations of fraud here that ought to be investigated and the facts ought to be brought to light," said Democratic Commissioner Forrest Claypool.
The former steakhouse busboy and onetime college basketball star ran from a mob of cameras as he ran out of the security gate at the Cook County Jail on Monday and boarded a waiting CTA bus on California Avenue.
Cole was an assistant to former county Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings, who is Stroger's cousin.
She signed off on paid excused absences for Cole's three turns in jail in November.
Court documents also show that
Dunnings bailed Cole out of jail four times, at a total cost of f $4,000.
Some county employees said Dunnings and Cole were in a romantic relationship, although Dunnings denied the claim.
After the revelations, Stroger fired Dunnings, saying he wanted to protect her because the controversy would be the subject of a "media circus" and attention from opponents on the County Board.
Most recently, Cole was incarcerated on charges of violating an order of protection from a former girlfriend.
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