Jan. 20--The ousted president of Chicago's former red light camera vendor teared up on the witness stand Wednesday as she explained to jurors her plea-bargaining deal with federal prosecutors.
"I will have a felony record for the rest of my life," Karen Finley, her voice cracking with emotion, testified at the trial of John Bills, the former city official charged in a $2 million bribery scheme.
Finley, fired as president and CEO of Redflex Traffic Systems after Tribune stories exposing the corruption, said her plea deal calls for up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In exchange, she said, she promised to provide truthful testimony in the government's case against Bills, the former No. 2 official in the city's Department of Transportation on trial on charges he took cash bribes and lavish gifts for steering tens of millions of dollars in contracts to Redflex.
Bills has denied all charges.
Finley, 55, the third and final key prosecution witness to testify at the high-profile trial, recalled meeting Bills for the first time in the bar atop the John Hancock building on the eve of an important meeting at City Hall to kick off a "head-to-head faceoff" with a competitor as part of a pilot project.
"We sat and talked with John, and the essence of the discussion was giving Redflex some tips in working with the city, how to navigate the process, what we were up against, that sort of stuff," Finley said.
She also testified that Bills was working as early as 2004 to expand Redflex's footprint in Chicago to include speed cameras, bus cameras, street sweeper cameras and stop sign cameras.
"He worked in the city to try to expand our program services," Finley said. "To offer speed cameras, street sweeper enforcement, stop light, all above and beyond.
"He was very good at getting more systems installed in the city," she said of Bills.
Under questioning by U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, Finley acknowledged she has consistently lied to her own staff, in sworn depositions, internal Redflex investigations, even in initial interviews with federal agents.
"Ms. Finley, why did you lie over and over again about this scheme?" Fardon asked.
"I was scared," she said.
dkidwell@tribpub.com
