Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan, who has been under investigation for his role in the SafeSpeed red-light camera scandal, told township officials he intends to resign Friday.
O’Sullivan, a former state legislator and Democratic committeeman, is under federal scrutiny because of his work as a sales consultant for SafeSpeed LLC.
SafeSpeed provides red-light cameras to numerous suburbs, including several where O’Sullivan has helped elect allies to local offices.
“He told me this morning he was turning in his resignation,” Worth Township Trustee Eamon McMahon said Friday. Other sources confirmed they also had been informed of O’Sullivan’s plan to quit.
McMahon said O’Sullivan did not give a reason for his resignation.
O’Sullivan and his defense attorney, Daniel Collins, could not be reached for comment.
An employee in the supervisor’s office said she had not received a resignation but advised a reporter to check back later.
Earlier this month, another SafeSpeed sales associate, Patrick Doherty, was indicted on charges of trying to bribe an Oak Lawn trustee in an effort to win business for a red-light company, identified by the Sun-Times as SafeSpeed.
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The indictment accuses Doherty, chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, of conspiring with another unnamed sales agent and someone else with an interest in the company to pay off the Oak Lawn official.
The Sun-Times reported previously that O’Sullivan, a political associate of Doherty, lobbied Oak Lawn officials to more aggressively ticket motorists identified by SafeSpeed’s cameras as potential violators.
Doherty has explained to the Sun-Times that he was paid a “small percentage” from “every ticket that’s paid” in certain communities served by SafeSpeed.
SafeSpeed also figures heavily into the case against former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who has admitted taking $70,000 in “protection money” for blocking legislation that could have been harmful to the red-light camera industry. SafeSpeed had no immediate comment.
