Jones Pleads "Not Guilty," Maintains Innocence
Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) speaks to media at the Statehouse. He pleaded not guilty to federal bribery charges Friday.
Indicted State Senator Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) pleaded not guilty Friday to federal bribery charges, and his attorneys say he “maintains his innocence.”
More on his court appearance from the Chicago Tribune:
Shortly after pleading not guilty to federal bribery charges Friday, Illinois state Sen. Emil Jones III was told his case will next be in court on Nov. 4.
It was an arbitrary status date as far as the federal criminal justice system goes — but not so much for Jones.
Four days after that hearing, the Far South Side Democrat will be on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election, where he’s running unopposed for a fifth term.
That only-in-Illinois reality raised more questions about the political future for Jones, who was charged earlier in the week with accepting bribes from a red-light camera company executive in exchange for killing legislation that went against the company’s interests.
The arraignment Friday came amid increasing pressure for Jones to step down from the seat he’s held since 2009, having followed his powerful father, then-Senate President Emil Jones Jr., into the seat the elder Jones held for decades.
Even if Jones were to resign, however, his name will likely remain on the ballot due to early voting and mail-in ballots, election officials have said.
Jones, 44, was charged in a criminal information made public Tuesday with bribery and lying to federal agents. The most serious charge carries up to 10 years in prison, while the others have a five-year maximum term, according to federal prosecutors.
In February 2019, Jones introduced a bill in the Senate that would have required the Illinois Department of Transportation to conduct a statewide study of automated traffic law enforcement systems, including red-light cameras such as those operated by SafeSpeed, according to the six-page information.
The charges alleged Jones agreed with SafeSpeed executive and co-founder Omar Maani — who was secretly cooperating with federal investigators — to “protect” SafeSpeed by limiting any traffic studies to the city of Chicago, excluding the suburbs where the company does much of its business.
In exchange, Jones took $5,000 in benefits and wanted a job and additional payments for an unnamed associate, Individual B, according to the charges. In August 2019, Jones told Maani that if he contributed $5,000 by sponsoring an event, they “would not have to report that contribution” on state campaign funding reports, the charges alleged.
On Sept. 24, 2019, the day of the FBI raid on Sandoval’s offices, Jones was interviewed by agents. According to the charges, he lied by saying he had not agreed to protect SafeSpeed in exchange for Maani hiring or paying Individual B and had not discussed any plan with Maani to skirt campaign financing disclosures.
His attorneys, Reggie Harris and Zeke Katz, issued a statement Friday afternoon that Jones maintains his innocence.
“While the Senator does not plan to litigate this case in the media, he would like to take this opportunity to state publicly that he maintains his innocence of the charges and has accordingly plead not guilty to each count.,” they said. “The Senator respectfully asks the public not to rush to judgement. Ours is a legal system founded upon the principle that persons accused of crimes are innocent unless and until proven guilty by competent evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt.”
