How did former alderman get multimillion-dollar piece of tobacco deal?
Jump to full article: Chicago Sun-Times, 2009-04-15
Author: MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist
Intro: Lost in the uproar last month over a federal judge's decision to go easy on Fast Eddie Vrdolyak was another piece of information to emerge from his sentencing that was nearly as outrageous.
Vrdolyak, come to find out, was the recipient of a multimillion-dollar legal fee paid from the big 1998 tobacco settlement -- and he's still collecting on it.
You remember the tobacco settlement: hundreds of billion of dollars paid by cigarette makers to state governments to make all those pesky liability suits go away, billions in turn directed to state-hired law firms that brought the cases. . . .
That calculates to a $6.25 million total fee for Vrdolyak using the prosecution's number or $9 million using the judge's. I couldn't get clarification. The U.S. attorney's office declined to clarify. Monico wouldn't return my calls. Pre-sentence investigations reports aren't public records.
Did this involve pal-in-crime Levine?
People want to write off Vrdolyak as a quaint relic from yesteryear, yet even though long retired from public office, he still was able to find a way to latch on to the sweetest litigation jackpot in U.S. history -- and keep it secret. That's impressive, as well as suspicious.
What, you may wonder, did he do to earn his fee, and who agreed to pay him?
I don't have the answers, but I'll fill you in as best I can.
For what little we do know, we can thank U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur.
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