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Alvarez Taps Federal Prosecutor to "Lead the Charge"
on Corruption in Cook County

A prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney's Office with extensive experience in the prosecution of public corruption and organized gang and narcotics crimes has been named to a top post in the administration of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Alvarez announced today that she has named John Robert Blakey as Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau.
This unit leads the State's Attorney's criminal investigations into government and public corruption, police misconduct, gang crimes and complex financial and organized crimes.

Blakey, 43, who has served as an Assistant United State's Attorney since 2000 in both the Southern District of Florida and the Northern District of Illinois, has prosecuted a wide variety of public corruption, financial crimes, narcotics and gang cases. As part of his duties he served as a member of the team that investigated the public corruption matters against Tony Rezko, and he is one of the lead prosecutors in the ongoing state and federal investigation into police misconduct in the Chicago Police Department's now defunct Special Operations Section.

Alvarez, who was recently named to the statewide panel that will make recommendations to reform state and local government, said her selection of Blakey signals her commitment to cracking down on public corruption.

"There will be zero tolerance when it comes to our efforts to investigate and root out public corruption wherever it leads," Alvarez said. "It is my intent to re-invent the way we approach the prosecution of public corruption and organized criminal activity here in Cook County and Jack Blakey is well prepared to lead our charge."

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Blakey spent four years as an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County. Blakey's father, a law professor at Notre Dame University, was the principal author of the RICO statute, Title III and other federal statutes addressing organized crime and electronic surveillance.

One of Blakey's first responsibilities, according to Alvarez, will be to develop anti-corruption legislation that would target enterprise criminality and provide the legal tools needed to fight it at the state level. Currently, Illinois the only state in the nation which requires the consent of both parties to a covert recording (including the target) in the absence of a formal court order, and does not authorize court-approved wiretaps for public corruption investigations.

The new legislation would propose revisions to update existing consensual overhear laws and other traditional law enforcement tools that will aid significantly, not only in corruption investigations, but other organized criminal operations as well.

The proposed anti-corruption legislation would also seek to enact a comprehensive state RICO statute to effectively target public corruption at all levels and prosecute criminal enterprises at the state level such as the hierarchy of Chicago street gangs, identity theft or mortgage fraud rings, or sexual predators.

"Compared to other states across the nation, the anti-corruption laws that are on the books here in Illinois are in the Dark Ages, " Alvarez said. "We will be seeking the powers that other state's and the federal government possess to help us investigate public corruption and other organized criminal enterprises."
In his capacity as the Chief of Special Prosecutions, Blakey will be cross-designated as a Special Assistant U.S.

Attorney. In addition to the legislative initiative, Alvarez said Blakey will also work to develop new partnerships with other governmental and law enforcement agencies, both public and private, to take advantage of resources they can provide at the federal, county and city level.

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