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May 22, 2008 7:04 pm US/Central
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15 Charged In City Building Permit Bribery Probe
City Plumbing Inspector Earning More Than $87,000 A Year Among Those Charged
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
Fifteen people, among them a plumbing inspector making $87,108 a year, were charged Thursday with bribery in cases involving building and construction permits.
Mario Olivella, a 10-year city employee, was one of 15 people -- including seven city employees -- arrested Wednesday and Thursday in the latest chapter of a joint investigation between Inspector General David Hoffman's office and the federal government, dubbed Operation Crooked Code.
City inspectors, developers and contractors were charged individually or in groups with offering or accepting bribes in eight different criminal cases.
In seven of the cases, the defendants were paying or receiving bribes through an informant who worked as an expediter, whose job is to take permit applications and other issues regarding construction to the city from a developer or homeowner, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
The informant has not been charged with any crime, but will be in the future, the office said.
The informant played the role of "bagman," serving as a middleman between developers and contractors who were offering bribes and city employees who handled building and construction permits, the office said.
"The picture painted by the criminal charges filed today shows sadly that the permit process in Chicago is governed by a separate set of rules for those who pay to corrupt the system," Fitzgerald said.
The case that snagged Olivella also implicated city Zoning Department inspector William Wellhausen, Buildings Department inquiry aide Phyllis Mendenhall, Zoning Department investigator Anthony Valentino, Buildings Department ventilation and furnace inspector Thomas Ziroli, and Buildings Department clerk Louis Burns. All were accused of accepting bribes through the informant.
The others were property developers and construction, electrical and plumbing contractors who were accused of giving bribes to the informant for the city inspectors.
Eight city building inspectors already have been accused of taking bribes to ignore building-code violations.
The corruption-plagued Buildings Department is currently without a permanent commissioner. Last month, Mayor Daley named Buildings Commissioner Richard Rodriguez as his new aviation commissioner.
It's the same department that hired the teenage sons of Carpenters Union officials to serve as buildings inspectors in 2004.
Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), chairman of the Buildings Committee, was disgusted to learn about the new wave of indictments in a Buildings Department that's been a source of trouble for City Hall.
"I thought we had cleaned this all up, and now, all of the sudden, it's starting again," Stone said. "I thought we got rid of these bums. There's some people who just can't resist the allure of easy money . . . . I don't know why people sell themselves for a few dollars."
All 15 defendants charged Thursday were scheduled to appear for an initial court hearing at 3 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Ashman.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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