Recently Resigned Sen. Tom Cullerton Pleads Guilty
Former Sen. Tom Cullerton leaves the federal courthouse in Chicago.
Tom Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat who resigned from the State Senate last week, pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges in federal court Tuesday.
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Before he entered his plea, Cullerton told the judge he’s spent the last four or five months doing overnight and morning shift work in a warehouse. He acknowledged he’d previously been employed as an Illinois state senator.
Cullerton, a member of a family whose political fortunes here date back to just before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, faced indictment since August 2019. But the Villa Park Democrat held onto his office until last month, resigning just before his attorney revealed his plans to plead guilty.
The charges against Cullerton came just days after former Chicago Teamsters boss John T. Coli pleaded guilty in an extortion case revolving around $325,000 in cash payments he received from Cinespace Chicago Film Studios between 2014 and 2017. Coli also agreed at the time to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He has not been sentenced.
The indictment against Cullerton revolved around Cullerton’s role as an organizer for Teamsters Joint Council 25. He landed that job after his former employer, Hostess Brands, shut down in 2012. Coli told prosecutors he arranged for Cullerton’s hiring as an organizer “but did not believe the employment was legitimate,” according to court filings.
Cullerton was accused of collecting $188,320 in salary, bonuses and cellphone and vehicle allowances from the Teamsters between March 2013 and February 2016, as well as $64,068 in health and pension contributions, while doing little or no work for the labor union. He was also accused of collecting $21,678 in reimbursed medical claims.
Cullerton could receive up to a year in prison and will have to repay more than $240,000 in no-show wages.
