Former longtime Chicago Ald. Carrie Austin may live her remaining days under the cloud of an unresolved federal indictment after a judge Wednesday found her medically unfit for trial.
The 76-year-old who spent 28 years representing the 34th Ward suffers from lung and heart ailments, as well as cancer. She collapsed during a City Council meeting in 2021. And now, U.S. District Judge John Kness has concluded that a trial would be an “unacceptable” risk to her well-being.
“Barring a material improvement in her health, she may indeed never face the prospect of a guilty verdict,” Kness wrote in his 19-page ruling. “But then again, she may also never enjoy the restorative benefit of a not guilty verdict.”
Kness handed down his ruling an hour or so ahead of a scheduled hearing in Austin’s case. When attorneys met with the judge later in the morning, a prosecutor acknowledged that the decision left the feds in an unusual position.
It’s not clear exactly what will happen next.
For the time being, Kness scheduled a status hearing for Jan. 7 and canceled Austin’s November trial. Along the way, he mentioned the possibility that prosecutors might try to appeal his ruling — as well as the “very remote” chance that Austin’s health will improve enough for her to face trial one day.
Barring such developments, Austin’s criminal case could effectively be at an end. It comes as a broader federal assault on corruption at City Hall and in Springfield appears to be wrapping up.
Austin’s indictment for bribery and lying to the FBI made her one of three sitting City Council members facing federal charges when it was handed up in July 2021. Then-Alds. Edward M. Burke (14th) and Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) were also facing charges at the time.
Burke and Thompson have since been convicted by juries and served time in prison. Burke was just released to community confinement Tuesday.
All three prosecutions were part of that wider assault on corruption, culminating with this year’s conviction of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who was sentenced last month to 7 ½ years in prison.
In a statement Wednesday, Austin lawyer Thomas Anthony Durkin said he and co-counsel Joshua Herman were “gratified” by Kness’ “thoughtful and well considered opinion.” So was Austin, he said.
Austin’s former chief of staff, Chester Wilson Jr., still faces charges of bribery and theft of government funds.
Austin left the Council in 2023 but had become the second-most senior member of the body by the time of her indictment. Former Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Austin in August 1994 to fill the vacancy created by the death of her husband, Lemuel, who’d served since 1987.
Prosecutors say Carrie Austin accepted home improvement materials such as sump pumps, a dehumidifier and kitchen cabinets as kickbacks from a developer overseeing a $50 million development in her ward. She allegedly then took action to benefit the developer and others.
Carrie Austin allegedly sent aldermanic acknowledgment letters by email in 2016 stating she had no objection to the city issuing building permits within the development. In 2017 and 2018, she allegedly helped seek the release of city payments to a bank that financed the project.
Then, when authorities raided Carrie Austin’s offices in 2019, she allegedly denied receiving “anything” from that developer — other than a cake.
Carrie Austin’s lawyers have argued since late 2022 that she is not fit for trial. They pointed to her collapse during a December 2021 City Council meeting and said doctors found she had a condition caused by a partial collapse of the lungs.
They said her breathing issues then worsened, as did pain in her legs and chest. They argued she had a condition that made her feel like she was drowning when she was lying down, so she could only sleep in a recliner. And they said she struggled to walk even with the help of portable oxygen.
Prosecutors countered that Carrie Austin had been surveilled by the FBI, and she was seen walking without assistance — and without the use of oxygen.
Kness appointed pulmonologist Susan R. Russell of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute to prepare a report on Carrie Austin’s fitness. Russell found earlier this year that Carrie Austin’s “pulmonary dysfunction prevents her from participating in trial” as described by lawyers, records show.
Russell also found Carrie Austin’s “lung function has declined over time,” that she would likely require multiple oxygen tanks to get through each trial day and is not likely to “tolerate crossing town daily for both courtroom activities and daily review sessions with her lawyer[s].”
In his ruling, Kness noted that “the act of showering or walking from room to room in her house is strenuous for [Carrie Austin].
“So there is no doubt that traveling to and from the courthouse, sitting in trial all day, and traveling to meet with her attorneys at night, even with the aid of a scooter, will have an ‘adverse effect’ on her health.”
Contributing: Fran Spielman