Prosecutors say businessman James Weiss ‘had two sitting politicians’ on his payroll as federal bribery trial begins
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.Attorney Ilia Usharovich, from left, defendant James Weiss and attorney Sheldon Sorosky leave the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on June 5, 2023.
It was Arroyo’s colleague in the General Assembly, state Sen. Terry Link, who was secretly cooperating with the FBI in the hopes of a break on his tax evasion case, who introduced the idea of a bribe during a private discussion with Arroyo, Sorosky said in his opening remarks to the jury.“There isn’t any dispute concerning the payments that the government says Weiss paid,” Sorosky said.
Prosecutors are scheduled to begin presenting witnesses Wednesday, including current state Rep. Robert Rita, and former state Rep. Tony Munoz, a Chicago Democrat.charges, could take the witness stand in the afternoon. The case centers on the largely uncharted world of sweepstakes machines, sometimes called “gray machines,” which allow customers to put in money, receive a coupon to redeem for merchandise online and then play electronic games like slot machines.Since the machines can be played for free, they are not considered gambling devices. Critics, however, contend the unregulated devices, which operate in cities, including Chicago, that have banned video gambling, are designed to skirt the law.
“This was no ordinary or legitimate business meeting,” O’Neill said. What Weiss and Arroyo did not know was that Link was cooperating with the FBI and secretly recorded the meeting, she said.During the meeting, Arroyo said he was going to introduce a “trailer bill” in the veto session expanding the use of sweepstakes games and offered to make periodic payments to Link in exchange for his support, according to the charges.
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