Subpoena draws ex-Rep. Acevedo into feds’ political corruption probe
Former state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo has been drawn into the ongoing federal public corruption investigation that has gone quiet but not dormant amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his stay-at-home order, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the Illinois secretary of state’s lobbyist division for all records related to Acevedo, as well as Michael and Alexander Acevedo and the Acevedos’ lobbying company, Apex Strategy LLC, records show.
The Chicago Sun-Times obtained a copy of the subpoena through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Acevedos have not been accused of wrongdoing. Edward Acevedo told the Sun-Times he had “no clue” what prompted the subpoena. Michael and Alexander could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
“I have no idea what that’s about,” Edward Acevedo said.
Secretary of state records list Michael Acevedo as Apex’s manager, and Edward and Alexander Acevedo as previously registered lobbyists. Alexander Acevedo ran in 2016 to replace Edward, his father, in the Legislature but lost. He then ran in 2019 to replace Danny Solis as alderman of Chicago’s 25th Ward in yet another losing bid after Solis was revealed by the Sun-Times to be cooperating with federal investigators in their investigation of Chicago political corruption.
Michael Acevedo is also a son of Edward Acevedo, according to sources.
The grand jury number on the Acevedo subpoena matches that in the case against Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th). The subpoena asked for the records to be submitted by April 15. Though Burke has a status hearing scheduled next week, it’s unclear if it will go forward. Judges at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse are just starting to play catchup after the coronavirus put most proceedings on hold there for months.
For a year now, Burke has faced racketeering charges in a stunning indictment filed in May 2019. It accused him of using his position on the City Council to steer legal business to his private firm and quoted him allegedly using such colorful phrases as “the cash register has not rung yet” and “did we land . . . the tuna?”
Edward Acevedo said Thursday he had “nothing to do” with Burke, Solis or former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who has already pleaded guilty to corruption charges in a separate case.
After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, federal prosecutors initially reported trouble convening grand juries. However, grand jury indictments began to appear again in early May following a nearly two-month hiatus.
Edward Acevedo, 56, had been a correctional officer with the Cook County sheriff’s office when he was hired by the Chicago Police Department in June 1995. Acevedo later won election to the Illinois House of Representatives, representing several South Side neighborhoods, including parts of the 11th Ward, the political power base of the Daley family.
Acevedo also worked as a lobbyist for Aurora Venegas, the owner of Azteca Supply Co., who went to federal prison for defrauding the city of Chicago and the village of Orland Park on government contracts.
Acevedo and state Sen. Tony Munoz, another former Chicago police officer, got the Legislature to pass a bill to sweeten their pensions by giving them extra credits toward their police pension for every day they served in the Legislature.
The feds revealed their ongoing public corruption investigations in November 2018 when they famously raided Burke’s City Hall and ward offices. Since then, several politicos have found themselves in the feds’ crosshairs. In addition to Burke, prosecutors have charged former state Rep. Luis Arroyo with paying a bribe to an unnamed state senator. A source has identified that senator as Terry Link, though Link has denied it.
State Sen. Thomas Cullerton is also charged with embezzlement and was expected to go to trial next month, though Chicago’s chief federal judge has said there will be no criminal jury trials until August because of the coronavirus.
Sandoval pleaded guilty in January, admitting in a plea agreement that he took more than $250,000 “in bribes as part of criminal activity that involved more than five participants.” Sandoval also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.