Report: Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago Ranked Most Corrupt City in America

A report by the University of Illinois claims Chicago is the most corrupt city in America, according to a WGN 9 article published Thursday.

“The report is based on data from the justice department, which looked at public corruption convictions between 1976 and 2019,” the outlet said.

In that time period, the city had almost 1800 convictions, more than Los Angeles which had the second highest. New York came in third.

The university’s annual report, co-authored by professor Dick Simpson, also said Illinois is the third-most corrupt state, according to WTTW.

The outlet continued:

In 2019, there were 26 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes all of Chicago and the northern third of Illinois — double the number recorded in 2018, according to the report. The rest of the state had six additional public corruption convictions in 2019 for a state total of 32, according to Simpson’s findings based on the most recent DOJ data available.

[…]

In May 2019, Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) was indicted on 14 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion based on evidence that he repeatedly — and brazenly — used his powerful position at City Hall to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm. Burke has pleaded not guilty.

Due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the voluminous amount of evidence regarding the case, Burke has not yet stood trial.

“Former Ald. Willie Cochran (20th Ward) pleaded guilty in June 2019 to wire fraud in connection with allegations he used a charitable fund for personal expenses. Cochran was sentenced to a year and a day in prison,” the WTTW report added.

Meanwhile, at least 18 individuals were shot, two fatally, last weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago, according to Breitbart News.

The first of the two fatalities was a man found facedown on a sidewalk Saturday morning. He had been shot in the back of the head and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

More than 4,100 people were shot in Chicago from January 1, 2020, through December 27, 2020, Breitbart News reported.