Former McCook mayor and Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for his part in an extortion and bribery conspiracy.
During his sentencing hearing, Tobolski said what he had done was wrong. He apologized to his victims and his wife and daughter.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of more than five years.
Tobolski, who pleaded guilty to an extortion conspiracy charge in September 2020, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall.
Tobolski agreed to work with federal prosecutors after his arrest, which saved him from years in prison. His guilty plea would have made him eligible for a prison term of 11-14 years, per federal sentencing guidelines.
After pleading guilty, Tobolski was joined by former McCook police chief Mario DePasquale, former state Sen. Martin Sandoval and Tobolski’s former chief of staff Patrick Doherty who were all charged with federal crimes.
Sandoval died later in 2020. But Doherty pleaded guilty in 2022, admitting to multiple corruption schemes that variously involved Tobolski, Sandoval and others. U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced Doherty in 2023 to more than five years in prison.
In 2024, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo sentenced DePasquale to a prison sentence of more than two years .
Earlier this year, Tobolski’s name came up during the bribery trial of state Sen. Emil Jones III. That trial, which ended with a hung jury, featured testimony from Omar Maani, a former red-light camera executive who helped the feds build cases against Tobolski and others.
Tobolski once demanded a 10% kickback from Maani after Maani’s business was awarded a project in McCook. When Maani initially didn’t pay the bribe, Tobolski allegedly withheld payment of Maani’s invoices until the kickbacks were eventually paid in cash.
Tobolski took over as mayor of McCook in 2007 after the death of his father. He admitted in 2020 that he not only shook down a restaurant owner there, but that he’d engaged in other extortion and bribery schemes involving his two offices, agreeing to accept more than $250,000 “as part of criminal activity that involved more than five participants.”
He stepped down as mayor and commissioner in 2020 before the feds made their arrest. He was succeeded as mayor by Terry Carr and as county commissioner by Frank Aguilar.
This story will be updated.
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