A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan to 18 months of probation for conspiring to bribe an Oak Lawn trustee for the benefit of a politically connected red-light camera company.
The sentence matched the request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Ardam. She told U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt that O’Sullivan cooperated “very quickly” with federal investigators and provided important information “about other individuals that are either still under investigation or were matters important to the government.”
“This was truly the only involvement the defendant has had in any sort of crime,” Ardam said.
O’Sullivan, who pleaded guilty in 2021, also gave a lengthy statement at Wednesday’s hearing in a Chicago courtroom. He held a piece of paper in his shaking hand as he apologized to his family and others for his crime.
“I stand before you with great regret and shame for my actions,” O’Sullivan said. “I take full responsibility for my actions. I apologize to the court, the government and, most importantly, my neighbors and fellow citizens. Several years ago, I made a terrible mistake. It was selfish and foolish, and it was wrong.”
Hunt told the courtroom that “this pay-to-play mentality really does have to end.” But she ultimately told O’Sullivan that “this was just one minor blip in your entire story.”
Prosecutors told the judge earlier this month that O’Sullivan played a “minor role” in the conspiracy to pay off the Oak Lawn trustee. Also involved in the scheme were former Cook County official Patrick Doherty and onetime red-light camera executive Omar Maani.
In arguing for a light sentence for O’Sullivan, prosecutors wrote that he “was contrite about his own conduct, was responsive, reliable, and timely with his cooperation.”
They said O’Sullivan helped them secure a plea agreement with Doherty and provided “valuable tips/information about a public official engaged in corruption.”
Dan Collins, O’Sullivan’s defense attorney, told the judge that O’Sullivan “is a good man who deeply loves his family and is willing to help anyone who asks.”
A judge sentenced Doherty in 2023 to more than five years in prison. Doherty admitted to several corruption schemes, including the one in Oak Lawn. He’s being held in a prison facility in Kentucky, and his anticipated release date is Feb. 4.
Maani avoided a conviction through a deal he struck with the feds. He testified earlier this year during the bribery trial of state Sen. Emil Jones III, which ended with a hung jury.
Collins wrote in a recent court memo that the Oak Lawn trustee reached out to O’Sullivan in May 2017, seeking help for the trustee’s son. The son had just graduated from high school and was looking for a summer job.
The job was important, Collins wrote, because the trustee was unemployed.
O’Sullivan was working as a sales agent for the red-light camera company SafeSpeed LLC at the time. So, in addition to seeking a construction job for the trustee’s son, O’Sullivan reached out to fellow SafeSpeed agent Doherty, according to Collins.
That’s when the men began discussing how to leverage the situation to expand SafeSpeed’s footprint in Oak Lawn, records show. SafeSpeed has not been charged with wrongdoing, and it has decried the actions of those who have.
On May 25, 2017, Doherty told O’Sullivan by phone that he would make payments to the trustee’s son “if it’s going to get us the job,” according to O’Sullivan’s plea agreement.
“I’ll just pay it,” Doherty allegedly said. “Just make sure we get the, make sure we get the f—ing thing, the contract.”
O’Sullivan gave Doherty a phone number for the trustee’s son so Doherty could make the offer.
Doherty told O’Sullivan the trustee’s son would be paid $500 a week for two months to “research stuff” for Doherty’s separate company, according to Collins’ memo. O’Sullivan spoke again to the trustee, who assured O’Sullivan his son was a “computer guru.”
Later, Doherty allegedly asked O’Sullivan if the trustee was “appreciative” and “understands” what they wanted.
Collins wrote that O’Sullivan “fully acknowledges that he was motivated to help the teenager, in relevant part, in the hope that it would influence the trustee to support” SafeSpeed.
“The sad truth is that John would have helped any parent who called and asked for his help finding employment for their children,” Collins wrote.
As for the trustee’s son, he allegedly told a grand jury he found Doherty’s work to be “boring.” That’s according to Collins’ memo.
“I spent an hour or two on the project and never finished it,” the trustee’s son allegedly testified. “I did not enjoy the work, so I did not ask for more projects.”
Doherty wound up complaining that he couldn’t “get a hold of this kid.”