Feds seek more than 2 years for ex-Ald. Vrdolyak, say he got $12M from tobacco litigation
Prosecutors say ex-Ald. Vrdolyak did no work on state’s massive tobacco settlement but collected $12 million
Federal prosecutors asked a judge late Friday to send former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak to prison formore than two years, revealing he has collected more than $12 million from Illinois’ massive settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s.
Vrdolyak received that money even though prosecutors say he did no work on the tobacco litigation that has since become the backdrop to his most recent indictment at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
Prosecutors also asked U.S. District Judge Robert Dow to delay Vrdolyak’s prison sentence until 2021, after a COVID-19 vaccine has been distributed to the inmate population. In their own memo, Vrdolyak’s lawyers asked for probation or home confinement, “particularly during a global pandemic.”
A sentencing memo from Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu referred to Vrdolyak as “a repeat offender and self-confessed ‘schemer,’” as well as a “charlatan.”
Meanwhile, Vrdolyak lawyer Catharine O’Daniel revealed in her own memo that Vrdolyak has a brain tumor. She called him “remorseful and contrite.”
It has been 20 months since Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to tax evasion and four years since the feds quietly filed an indictment outlining his role in a scheme to pocket millions from Illinois’ two-decade-old settlement with tobacco companies even though the feds say he did no work on it as an attorney.
The feds charged Vrdolyak, 82, along with attorney Daniel Soso, who was sentenced in March to two years in prison for dodging taxes. A prosecutor signaled then that sentencing guidelines would call for a lighter sentence for Vrdolyak.
Prosecutors have previously said Vrdolyak and Soso “received in ex-cess of $10 million in fees” from the tobacco settlement. They also previously told a judge that Vrdolyak “has a guaranteed income stream of $260,000 per year … until 2023 from tobacco-related litigation.”
Illinois’ $9.3 billion court settlement with tobacco companies also led to $188.5 million in payments to outside law firms that helped with the litigation.
The feds say Soso and Vrdolyak struck a secret deal with Washington state attorney Steve Berman to collect some of that money, even though they “did not perform any work.” Vrdolyak’s attorneys have insisted it was no secret Vrdolyak would receive money from the agreement, and they’ve complained about the failed memories of key witnesses, including former Attorney General Jim Ryan.
Bhachu wrote in a court filing ahead of Soso’s sentencing that law enforcement interviewed Ryan, and though health problems had affected his memory, Bhachu wrote that Ryan “was clear and consistent that he never authorized Vrdolyak or Soso’s involvement in the litigation.”
The deal between Berman, Soso and Vrdolyak evolved over time, according to court records. In May 1999, records show Berman sent Vrdolyak a letter indicating Vrdolyak could expect to collect $65 million. Vrdolyak agreed in writing to give part of that money to Soso.
Vrdolyak paid Soso $1.9 million between 2000 and 2005, according to Soso’s plea agreement.
Meanwhile, Soso was dodging taxes. So the IRS served Vrdolyak’s law firm with a levy in 2005, demanding he pay the agency any money he owed to Soso. Instead, Vrdolyak stopped paying Soso and told the IRS he owed Soso nothing.
Vrdolyak continued to accept money that Soso was due. Then, in 2010 and 2011, Vrdolyak directed $170,242 to Soso instead of sending it to the IRS.
A member of the City Council from 1971 to 1987, Vrdolyak earned the nickname “Fast Eddie” for his back-room deals and reputation for dancing on the edge of the law. He was known for saying he always assumed anyone he was talking with might be wearing a wire.