McCook police chief indicted in extortion
Scheme also brought down town’s mayor
The chief of police in west suburban McCook has been charged in a federal indictment alleging he participated in an extortion scheme that took down his onetime boss in the town, former Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski.
Mario DePasquale, 47, who has served as the McCook’s police chief since 2013, was charged with extortion conspiracy in an indictment made public Friday in U.S. District Court.
DePasquale could not immediately be reached for comment, and no attorney was listed for him on the court docket.
Calls and emails to McCook village administrators were not immediately returned.
The four-count indictment alleged DePasquale conspired with Tobolski beginning in 2016 to shake down a business owner who ran a restaurant at a McCookowned facility and needed the mayor’s approval to host events with liquor.
At the time, Tobolski doubled as McCook’s liquor commissioner.
The charges stated DePasquale demanded the restaurant owner — identified only as Individual A — pay $1,500 in bribes for each “themed event” that he wanted to host. DePasquale later picked up the money in person, and he and Tobolski split the cash, according to the indictment.
DePasquale also told the restaurant owner he had to donate to Tobolski’s political campaign funds, which the victim did on multiple occasions, according to the charges.
Tobolski, who stepped down from his dual posts as mayor and Cook County commissioner earlier this year, has pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and is cooperating with prosecutors in a bid for leniency. Tobolski admitted in a plea agreement that he collected $29,700 in cash from the extortion plot.
Tobolski also admitted in the plea that he extorted or collected bribes with at least four other people by abusing his official position as mayor or county commissioner. The amount of bribes he collected totaled at least $250,000, though the plea does not spell out how many victims were involved.
DePasquale has been under a cloud since his name appeared on a search warrant executed by federal agents at the McCook village facility in September 2019.
The raid was part of a sweeping public corruption probe that has led to a slew of charges against Democratic lawmakers and power players, including ex-state Sen. Martin Sandoval and Crestwood Mayor Louis Presta.
While the charges against DePasquale and Tobolski don’t identify the restaurant involved in the extortion scheme, federal records from the Sept. 26 raid in McCook shows authorities seized checks related to the “Pub Max project” and items related to an event dubbed “Latino Night at the Max.”
The Pub at the Max restaurant was part of the McCook Athletic & Exposition Center facility until it closed in 2018 and was replaced with another eatery.
According to a bio on the McCook website, DePasquale began his law enforcement career in the nearby suburb of Oakbrook Terrace in 1997. He was hired by the McCook Police Department in 2003 and was promoted to sergeant three years later.
Tobolski selected DePasquale as chief in 2013.
DePasquale graduated Morton West High School in Berwyn, according to the bio. He attended CulverStockton College in Missouri, where he was on the baseball team and received a degree in criminal justice and sociology.