A federal grand jury has indicted a former Chicago deputy aviation commissioner on a bribery charge for allegedly paying a former Democratic state senator at least $5,000 to support a road project.
The indictment returned Thursday accuses William A. Helm of bribing former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Ill., in 2018 on behalf of an unidentified construction company.
Helm is the latest person arrested in Illinois related to the FBI raid of Sandoval’s office. The Horn News reported on the FBI raid in September. It has since triggered a “sprawling political corruption investigation” of Democratic power players around Chicago.
Sandoval in January pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in a separate case and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The construction company recruited Helm and his consulting firm to help win the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) approval for suburban Chicago projects, the indictment said. Sandoval chaired the Senate Transportation Committee.
“Helm’s name was among a who’s who of Illinois power players named in the warrant, which included asphalt and casino magnates, red-light camera operators transportation and utility executives, and a handful of other elected officials,” The Chicago Tribune reported. “Helm was also listed in a September search warrant served on village hall in southwest suburban McCook, where Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski is mayor.”
Tobolski’s chief of staff was also indicted last month on charges he conspired to pay bribes to Democratic officials in 2017.
The chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, was allegedly trying to secure a high-paying red-light camera contract on behalf of the company he and Helm both represented. Doherty has pleaded not guilty.
Helm is a longtime political operative from Chicago’s 47th Ward that once held a high-level position with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). He’d previously left his work at IDOT after being disciplined — in part over a pending lawsuit that he pressured airport truck drivers to do political work.
Helm has denied all the allegations against him.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article