- Wed Mar 06, 2019 11:02 am
#114058
In a surprise move for a high-profile public corruption case, federal prosecutors in Chicago have agreed to drop all charges against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock. The charges were dropped after the original judge on the case was removed due to improper conduct and the new judge questioned the charges and the motive of the prosecution. “It should not have taken four years, two U.S. attorney’s offices, three judges and millions of dollars in costs to the taxpayers to come to this conclusion, Justice wielded irresponsibly is wrong, and it puts our constitutional rights at risk.”
The stunning deal was announced Wednesday during what was supposed to be a routine status hearing for Schock before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly. Schock declared victory and said he had said all along, the charges against him were nothing more than a political hit job and that he had refused to accept a deal for lesser charges if he just admitted to all the charges.
Schock, once considered a rising star in the Republican Party, was charged by the feds in a 24-count indictment in November 2016 with wire fraud, mail fraud, theft of government funds, making false statements, filing false reports with federal election officials and filing false tax returns.
The former congressman had been scheduled to go to trial June 10 in federal court in Chicago. The case had been reassigned to Kennelly last August from the U.S. District Court in Urbana after the judge there was accused of improper conduct in an unrelated case.
The deferred prosecution could mean that Schock’s once-promising political career isn’t necessarily over since he avoided a felony conviction.
- By johnforbes