Nov. 07--Two years after being hit with fraud charges that carried the potential of years in prison, Illinois state Rep. LaShawn Ford was sentenced Friday to six months of probation on a misdemeanor tax count as a result of an extraordinary plea deal with federal prosecutors.
"I just want to say, 'Hallelujah!' " a beaming Ford, 42, said in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse when reporters asked his reaction to the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. "I'm joyful."
The West Side Democrat was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, pay $3,782 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and fined $1,000.
Ford's 15-minute sentencing hearing was one of the quickest at Chicago's federal court in recent memory.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ridgway asked the judge to sentence Ford to up to six months in prison but acknowledged probation was also an option. Ford's attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, suggested that a small fine might suffice, saying Ford had overcome a rough upbringing to achieve the American Dream.
"He's overcome just extraordinary obstacles to get to where is at, and to get to a point in his life where he is deserving of a second chance," Durkin told the judge.
Pallmeyer said she believed his failure to pay taxes was due to sloppy bookmaking, not criminal intent.
"I'm very pleased I do not have to send you to prison," said Pallmeyer, prompting backslapping and handshakes among Ford's relatives and supporters in the courtroom gallery.
Ford, who rehabs rundown real estate, was charged in November 2012 with lying to ShoreBank to obtain a $373,500 extension on a line of credit to fix six depressed properties on the West Side. The indictment alleged that Ford improperly used some of that money to pay off personal expenses, including car loans, credit cards, mortgages, campaign costs and payments to a Hammond casino.
But in a highly unusual move, prosecutors in August agreed to drop all 17 felony charges against Ford in exchange for his guilty plea to a single misdemeanor tax count. The deal meant the Ford could keep his seat in Springfield, which he has held since 2006.
Ford was unopposed on Tuesday's ballot and won a fifth term.
In pleading guilty to the misdemeanor, Ford admitted that in his 2007 tax return, he over-reported what he spent to rehab a single-family house in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, reducing his capital gain from the sale of the home. The deception cost the IRS a tax loss of $3,782, according to the plea deal.
Ford had disputed the bank fraud charges from the beginning, blaming the indictment on the bank's eventual failure in 2010 and declaring in an interview with the Tribune, "I'm no fraud."
In a motion filed in June asking the judge to dismiss the charges, Ford's lawyers alleged that prosecutors had targeted him because he was a politician and African-American, noting that none of the other highly questionable loans connected to the bank's failure resulted in criminal charges. Prosecutors disputed the allegation, and Pallmeyer denied the motion.
Asked Friday why he thought the charges were brought, Durkin declined to criticize prosecutors, saying he had only praise for their decision to do "the right thing" and reduce the case to a misdemeanor.
"I think it was an admirable decision by (U.S. Attorney) Zach Fardon," Durkin said. "For the government to acknowledge that it wanted to reconsider and reverse course is a very extraordinary event."
jmeisner@tribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
