A former Illinois mayor pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges on Wednesday and admitted he improperly聽sought cash payments from a representative at SafeSpeed, a red-light camera company, the Department of Justice聽announced.
Louis Presta, the former mayor of Crestwood, Illinois,聽pleaded guilty to one count of using a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery and official misconduct, and one count of filing a false income tax return.
Presta also admitted that he willfully filed a false personal income tax return for the calendar year 2015.
If charged, he faces聽up to five years in federal prison for bribery and up to three years for聽the tax offense.聽Presta, 71, is set to be sentenced on聽Feb. 23, 2022.
Presta鈥檚 guilty plea comes more than a year after he was charged in a federal indictment with bribery and official misconduct, lying to the FBI and IRS, and tax charges.
indictment claims that聽Presta sought and received benefits聽from SafeSpeed representatives while SafeSpeed sought to expand its services in Crestwood, which enabled the municipality to issue tickets to motorists for certain traffic violations.
During that time and while the company was attempting to provide additional services to Crestwood, Presta allegedly asked for and accepted benefits from representatives of the company, the indictment states.
former mayor allegedly told聽the red-light camera company鈥檚 representative that he would ensure that the percentage of red-light traffic violations that he approved would remain high or increase, in exchange for gifts and rewards.
Presta then allegedly lied to the FBI and IRS聽about his request and receipt of聽gifts, cash, or campaign contributions from the red-light camera company.
As per the August indictment, Presta was shown a recording from聽March 7, 2018 in which he met with the company representative and allegedly accepted an聽envelope containing $5,000 in cash. Presta allegedly denied to law enforcement officials that there was any money in the envelope and rejected claims that he asked for the聽$5,000 bribe.
During one recorded phone call with聽the company鈥檚 representative before taking the bribe, Presta touted a recent increase in violations, saying: “We鈥檙e starting to get the numbers again. You got a new sheriff in town,” according to the DOJ.
guilty pleas came one day after聽Presta, who led southwest suburban Crestwood for nearly a decade, reportedly resigned from office on Tuesday.
A village official emailed the Chicago Tribune a copy of Presta鈥檚 resignation letter, which said he was resigning “effective immediately.”
“It has been an honor serving the residents of our Village as a Trustee and as Mayor,” the letter read. “I will make myself available to my successor to provide a smooth transition.”
Pezou has contacted a SafeSpeed spokesperson and Presta for comment.
Presta, a Democrat, was first elected mayor in 2013. Prior to that, he was president of聽Cicero News Agency and village trustee. In 2016, he received Mayor of the Year Award from the Illinois Crime Commission.
Pezou : Former Illinois Mayor Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges in Red-Light Camera Probe, Resigns From Role