Operation Silver Shovel was a major United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into political

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 during the 1990s. By the end of the probe illegal activities from labor union corruption to drug trafficking and organized crime activity were unearthed and corruption convictions were handed out to 18 individuals.

Background

In the 1980s, the federal Operation Greylord

Operation Greylord

Operation Greylord was an investigation conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division into corruption in the judiciary of Cook County, Illinois...

 investigation of the Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 courts found almost 100 lawyers and judges who were eventually sent to jail, disbarred or suspended for illegal actions. However, when the individuals were heading off to jail, some lawyers and judges fixed cases. That produced Operation Gambat, which sent more crooks off to jail.

The operation

John Christopher was an FBI mole

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...

, an insider to the Chicago construction business

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 and now a convicted felon

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 and lifelong mob

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 associate. The FBI relied on Christopher to get audio or visual recordings of illegal transactions including bribes, money laundering

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 and cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 purchases. By 1995, Christopher had made over 1100 recordings. The informant gave cash payments or other bribes to city officials in exchange for help in obtaining work. These officials include city alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

, city inspectors, project leaders, and others. The bribes centered on city contracts for hauling construction debris; Christopher paid officials to allow him to dump debris in illegal areas. The bribes totaled $150,000 in the end, and the money laundering over $2.2 million.

Those indicted

Aldermen:

• Ambrosio Medrano (Alderman 25th Ward)
• Allan Streeter (Alderman 17th Ward)
• Jesse Evans (alderman) (Alderman 21st Ward)
• Lawrence Bloom (Alderman 5th Ward)
• Virgil Jones(Alderman 15th Ward)
• Percy Giles (Alderman 37th Ward)

Other:

• 2 City inspectors
• 10 other

External links

• Official FBI webpage on Operation Silver Shovel