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Cook County official indicted on bribery charges in red-light camera probe

Published  February 14, 2020 2:55pm CST
Crime and Public Safety
Sun-Times Media Wire

OAK LAWN, Ill. - The chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to pay bribes to secure approval for red-light cameras in suburban Oak Lawn

Patrick Doherty, 64, of Palos Heights, has been hit with three bribery charges in an indictment made public Friday. His arraignment has not been set. He faces up to five years in prison on each count.

According to the indictment, Doherty worked as a sales agent for the red-light camera company that had a contract with Oak Lawn since 2014 to provide cameras.

Doherty and two others worked together to pay a relative of a village trustee a total of approximately $4,000 over several weeks in order to secure approval to install more cameras, prosecutors said. To hide the purpose of the payments, Doherty made the payments from a separate company, the indictment states.

Doherty allegedly told the other sales agent in 2017 that he would pay the trustee’s relative “if it’s going to get us the job,” according to the indictment. Doherty allegedly added, “I’ll just pay it. Just make sure we get the, make sure we get the [expletive] thing, the contract.”