s*********8
发帖数: 901 | 1 A Democratic state lawmaker from Chicago charged last week with accepting a
bribe overwhelmingly won his party's primary on Tuesday, reinforcing the
reputation of the nation's third-largest city for turning a blind eye to
corruption.
Derrick Smith, appointed a year ago to fill a vacancy in the Illinois House
of Representatives, was leading with 76 percent of the vote with more than
80 percent of the ballots counted, according to the Chicago Board of
Elections.
Federal prosecutors said they recorded Smith accepting $7,000 in cash from a
government informant in exchange for writing a letter supporting a state
grant for a day care center.
Smith was indicted by a grand jury, arrested, and freed on bond. He has yet
to enter a plea in the case. If convicted, Smith could face a maximum of ten
years in prison.
"It was a very unfortunate situation and circumstance," said U.S.
congressman Danny Davis, a Chicago Democrat who supported Smith.
Davis said he asked voters in overwhelmingly Democratic Chicago to elect
Smith despite his legal troubles because Smith's Democratic opponent, Tom
Swiss, was a past chairman of the Cook County Republican party. Chicago is a
part of Cook County.
"(Swiss) was kind of making use of a bit of subterfuge which would give you
no reason to think he would be a Democrat," Davis said, explaining why he
backed Smith.
Davis said he expected the indicted lawmaker to resign before the November
general election, giving local Democratic officials the opportunity to pick
a substitute.
Earlier this month, former Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
entered prison on a corruption conviction. His Republican predecessor,
George Ryan, is also serving a prison term for corruption. |
|
