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Cook County Prosecutors Charge
Criminal Courts Clerk In Bribery Scheme

An employee with the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office has been arrested and faces multiple charges in connection with a scheme in which he solicited and accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from an out-of-state woman who was attempting to bond her husband out of Cook County Jail, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced today.

Angelo Colon, 48, of 3005 N. Kolmar in Chicago, has been charged with solicitation of a bribe, theft, and official misconduct.  Colon was arrested by State’s Attorney investigators Wednesday and appeared in bond court today.  Bond was set for Colon at $ .

Colon has been an employee of the Cook County Clerk’s Office since May of 1999 assigned to an administrative office at the Criminal Courts Administration building at 26th and California.  The 5th Floor office is the location where family members and others go to post bond for defendants in custody at Cook County Jail. 

According to prosecutors, Colon, acting in his official capacity, solicited and accepted a total of  $13,000 from the victim with the false promise that he could bribe a Circuit Court Judge who would then order the release of her husband. 

According to prosecutors, the incident began in late September of 2008 when the victim traveled from the Texas area to Chicago to post bail for her husband, who had been charged in a drug trafficking case.  The victim encountered Colon as she attempted to post bond and he provided her with a phony business card and directed her to meet him at a nearby fast food restaurant.  

At the meeting Colon told the victim he could arrange for her husband’s release in exchange for $3,000 in cash, which she paid to Colon.  Shortly after this meeting, the victim once again met with Colon and an unidentified private investigator and surrendered her husband’s passport and identification card.

For the next several months, Colon engaged in an ongoing scheme in which he repeatedly demanded and received money from the victim with the false promise that he could arrange for the release of her husband. 
 
The victim wired an additional $10,000 to Colon in five separate transactions between November 4, 2008 and January 13, 2009.   In each case the funds were picked up by Colon at a currency exchange near his home. Records obtained from the currency change show that Colon used his driver’s license or Cook County Employee ID Card to verify his identity to obtain the funds.

Shortly after the last transaction, the victim met with a local attorney to discuss her husband’s case. During the meeting the attorney was told of the arrangement with Colon and reported the alleged theft to the State’s Attorney’s Office. 

Alvarez said the investigation signals the commitment of her administration to tackle corruption at all levels of county government. 

“Our citizens need to be able to have trust and confidence in the criminal justice system here in Cook County and those that work within it,” Alvarez said.  “We will continue to crack down on anyone who abuses their position within our system for criminal gain.”