Sen. Emil Jones III Indicted on Federal Bribery Charges
Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) was indicted Tuesday on federal bribery charges.
Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago), son of the powerful former Senate President Emil Jones, was indicted Tuesday on federal bribery charges relating to red light cameras.
More from the Chicago Tribune:
Illinois State Sen. Emil Jones III has been hit with federal bribery charges alleging he took money from a red-light camera company to kill legislation requiring traffic studies for automated camera systems, then lied to federal agents about it.
Jones, 44, was charged in a criminal information made public Tuesday with bribery and lying to the FBI. An arraignment date has not been set. Defendants charged via criminal information, rather than via grand jury indictment, typically intend to plead guilty.
Jones III, a Far South Side Democrat, has served in the state senate since 2009 and has been a member of the same transportation committee. He did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Jones’ charging is the latest case involving red-light cameras installed by SafeSpeed LLC, which generates millions of dollars in fines from motorists each year in nearly two dozen Chicago suburbs.
Jones becomes the seventh current or former member of the legislature to be indicted since 2019. Former senators Martin Sandoval, Tom Cullerton, Terry Link, and Sam McCann all faced or face federal charges. Former House Speaker Michael Madigan remains under indictment and former Rep. Luis Arroyo was sentenced to around five years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery charges.
