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*** UPDATE *** The indictment is here.
[Bumped up to Friday for visibility.]
* CBS 2…
William Helm, the former deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation and a Chicago political insider, was facing federal charges Thursday claiming that he bribed former state Sen. Martin Sandoval.
An indictment handed down on Thursday accuses Helm and his consulting company of offering the bribes in exchange for state approval for a development project in East Dundee.
The charge is outlined here.
* WBBM Radio…
A two-page indictment Thursday said Helm and his consulting company were hired by “Construction Company A” to try to get the Illinois Department of Transportation to approve roadwork that Company A wanted to do in East Dundee.
Helm allegedly bribed Martin Sandoval, then chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, to push IDOT to give Company A the approval it wanted.
We still don’t know the names of the IDOT officials who were referenced in the Sandoval search warrant, by the way. Helm’s name was also on that search warrant.
* Tribune…
According to the indictment, Helm was retained in 2018 by a construction company that was seeking IDOT approval for a signalization and road construction project in East Dundee.
At the time, Sandoval was the head of the influential Senate Transportation Committee.
The indictment alleged Helm paid bribes of at least $5,000 to Sandoval between July and November 2018 in exchange for the senator’s influence in helping the project gain IDOT approval.
The company was referred to in the indictment only as Company A. Helm’s consulting company also was not identified, but records show he owns WAH Consulting LLC, which has a principal address in Schaumburg.
Marty appears to be singing like a canary.
* Sun-Times…
Helm could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday evening. But his name has previously surfaced in search warrants relating to the feds’ ongoing investigations, records show. One was used when the FBI searched Sandoval’s Springfield offices in September. Another came a short time later, when the feds hit the tiny southwest suburb of McCook and the offices of its mayor, Jeff Tobolski, who is also a Cook County commissioner.
A source said Helm and Tobolski “are very close, political allies.” Helm is also a longtime friend of Tobolski’s top county aide, Patrick Doherty.
The feds charged Doherty last month with three bribery counts related to his work as a paid consultant for the red-light camera company SafeSpeed LLC. His indictment alleges he conspired in 2017 with another sales agent and someone with an interest in SafeSpeed to pay off a relative of an Oak Lawn trustee to support the installation of cameras. […]
Helm also worked as a paid sales representative for SafeSpeed while on the city payroll, the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. The company paid him a commission on red-light tickets written in Matteson and Glendale Heights, records show.
SafeSpeed has officially denied any involvement, of course.
* Sun-Times background from last October…
Helm isn’t well known, like some of the politicians he works for. But for decades, he’s been a old-school Chicago operator who has marshaled “volunteers” — often city employees — to circulate petitions and get out the vote for politicians. He also has used his contacts with bar and restaurant owners to hold fundraisers for campaigns, sources say.
He has gotten one plum government job after another, despite a history of disciplinary actions taken against him. In his latest job, at O’Hare, he got into trouble after being accused of allowing one of his workers to bring his wedding party onto the airfield for photos — without security clearance. In August, Helm abruptly resigned from that post, which paid him more than $125,000 a year.
Helm, 55, who hasn’t been charged with any crime, has deep ties to politicians as well as business owners who need friends in government — some of who’ve drawn the interest of the FBI and the IRS. […]
Helm is a longtime friend of Rick Heidner, a video-gaming magnate who was named in search warrants as part of the investigation. Heidner hasn’t been charged with any crime and says he’s done nothing wrong.
* Also October…
Helm is part of former Ald. Patrick O’Connor’s North Side political operation, but O’Connor said recently he doesn’t know what’s going on with Helm, only that he stopped working for the city in recent months. […]
Helm — who formerly worked at the Illinois Department of Transportation and resigned after being accused of having 41 hours of personal conversations on his phone during work hours — wouldn’t say whether federal agents have approached him.
* November…
When drivers get red-light camera tickets in Matteson, a portion of their fines has been going to a recently retired deputy Chicago city aviation commissioner who’s at the center of a political corruption investigation, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
Bill Helm — a $125,000-a-year deputy aviation commissioner overseeing airfield maintenance at O’Hare Airport until he quit in August — also was a paid sales representative for SafeSpeed, LLC, while on the city payroll, the records show.
SafeSpeed paid Helm, who’d held the city aviation post since 2014, a commission on red-light tickets written in Matteson and also Glendale Heights, the records show. Glendale Heights ended its affiliation with the red-light camera operator in 2018, officials said. […]
Helm didn’t disclose the outside work to City Hall, as required for any “secondary employment,” a spokesman said. Nor did he inform the Chicago Board of Ethics of outside income.
Matteson and Glendale Heights officials told the Sun-Times they knew nothing about nothing.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 6:22 am
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That was cheap with Sandoval who do we pay to get a project done?
Comment by Not a Billionaire Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 8:16 am
Karma finally caught up with Bill Helm. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 8:21 am
Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die … or you’ll get indicted at a much greater rate.
Some are still not learning this.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 8:22 am
Rich, this was one informative post. Bill Helm has some real problems ahead of him.
Comment by Steve Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 8:40 am
Nice pick by Rham to head up Airfield Maintenance at one the world’s busiest airport.
Wonder if he made a mention or two in Rham’s new book.
Comment by Back to the Future Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 8:51 am
47th knows of whom he speaks - Helm was sort of an O’Connor guy, but he was really an old Schulter guy from the 47th ward.
And I agree, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:02 am
Helm was with O’Connor - wonder if he’ll spill on him and his family.
Comment by Yep Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:08 am
== hired by “Construction Company A” to try to get the Illinois Department of Transportation to approve … ==
Partnering with a known player is a traditional way of winning contracts …
Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:11 am
Interesting the company “A” that hired him isn’t yet charged, superseding conspiracy charge coming?
Comment by Rutro Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:19 am
Not an impressive guy, to say the least. Good Riddance to him and Rahm. And he looks way older than 55. Just saying
Comment by Met him Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:30 am
===Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die … or you’ll get indicted at a much greater rate.===
The “old ways” have been illegal the entire time I have been on this Earth.
I have never known a time when the “old ways” were legal or ethical and frankly if we need to send a bunch of old men to prison for a bit to add some punctuation to those statutes, I am all for empathetic sentences.
They have indulged at the expense of the public and lined their pockets at the expense of the public and have tarnished our reputation while bloating their own egos and convincing themselves they were beyond consequences or reproach.
These folks had a lot of other options besides breaking the law and their willingness to break the law or look the other way has made it harder to move on and has already tarnished the careers of promising young folk.
We deserve justice. We deserve restitution. Helm and others like him deserve prison.
Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:33 am
I ask myself how many of these projects would have been approved anyway and the bribe wasn’t even necessary?
Comment by NoGifts Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 9:49 am
Keep singing guys. Sooner or later the Feds will get to the top. Just follow the cash.
Comment by SSL Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 10:00 am
If you want to make a dent in this type of activity, go after his pension. That will make a lot of others think twice.
Comment by Original Rambler Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 10:08 am
Rambler is right. Yank their pension if earning pension while corrupt. Can a citizen make a complaint or does pension board generate complaints
Comment by DuPage Saint Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 10:43 am
Wonder how I commented 15 minutes ago. Was in a meeting. Must have been the doppelganger again.
Comment by Huh? Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 10:47 am
From the “You can’t make this up” department. In the Tribune there is a link to an OEIG report, where among other things, Helm was busted for using a state vehicle for non-State purposes. The proof? A City of Chicago red light camera.
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 10:52 am
“Helm allegedly bribed Martin Sandoval, then chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, to push IDOT to give Company A the approval it wanted.” Dealing with IDOT District Two in Dixon, I find it hard to believe anyone could “push” IDOT to do anything. It’s the most slow-moving bureaucracy I’ve ever seen.
Corruption in IDOT is internal, not external. Too many IDOT personnel are too cozy with the contractors they are supposed to oversee on projects- look at the relationship between IDOT engineer Chris Aude, and Chris Snyder from Civil Constructors Freeport. Aude was in charge of the Savanna bridge over the Mississippi river in 2018, an $85 million project. Lots of room to pad the bill there.
Comment by Buford Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 11:20 am
A lot of higher-up administrators get an official car as part of the job, especially if they are “on call”. That way if he is called in for some emergency, he can come right in. They take the official car separately and the rest of the family takes the family car. If they are at a restaurant, school play, or other family outing, they can leave and head straight in to work stat.
Comment by DuPage Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 11:21 am
Random ?, is Sandoval the type of guy who kept a list?
Comment by Rutro Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 11:51 am
That OEIG named Ricardo Meza who works for Aunt Martha’s and made up a modality of care for children in DCFS?
http://newschannel20.com/news/local/public-guardian-calls-out-dcfs-private-agency-for-made-up-service
Comment by That OEIG Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 12:43 pm
That indictment looks awful thin. Gotta be a back story here
Comment by Regular democrat Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 12:51 pm
=== The “old ways” have been illegal the entire time I have been on this Earth.===
lol, for the love of Pete, take a breath
Read what I wrote, exactly as I wrote it;
“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die … or you’ll get indicted at a much greater rate.”
It’s still as illegal as before, I’m not approving of it, I’m making note, in the era after GHR and Blago, the time where things were left alone and later discovered, they’re getting to a quicker discovery, it appears.
=== We deserve justice. We deserve restitution. Helm and others like him deserve prison.===
Welp, it looks like it’s coming.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 1:02 pm
===Read what I wrote, exactly as I wrote it;===
OW, I didn’t see it as disagreeing with you — I saw it more as doubling down on your point.
Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 2:07 pm
- Candy Dogood -
That’s on me, then. Apologies.
To the post,
If Helm, allegedly, is one (if there are more that bribed, I dunno) of those exchanging monies with Sandoval, we may get a better look at how far reaching Sandoval was, and who were willing to do business with Sandoval, and for what… leading to how far “up” Sandoval himself can take this investigation.
It’s like solidifying Sandoval’s own crimes to then move forward to where Sandoval can take them?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 2:13 pm
The way IDOT has been since the hollowing-out of the 90’s, I suspect the grease was just to get the approval moved-up. Some permits are wallowing in District 1 for 6 months or more.
Comment by Proud Sucker Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 4:11 pm
Not that that is right either. Just a twist.
Comment by Proud Sucker Friday, Mar 6, 20 @ 4:12 pm
Helm used to work for Toni Preckwinkle a few years ago, I used to see him speak before the Commissioners, so he had a plum spot in Cook County. Probly has 2 or 3 pensions coming to him besides his side money.
Comment by Ogden Monday, Mar 9, 20 @ 9:20 am
time for Oconnor and Rahm to godown
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 11, 20 @ 2:10 pm