A once high-ranking Cook County official sat quietly in a federal courtroom as a prosecutor read through a laundry list of allegations against him Wednesday.
The prosecutor accused Patrick Doherty, the onetime chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, of six different corruption schemes. They involved Tobolski, the late state Sen. Martin Sandoval, Cook County, the village of Oak Lawn, the village of McCook, a cigar lounge in Countryside, red-light cameras and bribes totaling $148,000.
When the prosecutor finished, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman asked Doherty if it was true that he did “all of those things.”
Doherty leaned forward and said, “Yes, your honor.” Then, Doherty pleaded guilty to federal bribery and tax charges. Sentencing guidelines call for him to spend around five or six years behind bars. Guzman set his sentencing hearing for Nov. 10.
The feds first leveled an indictment against Doherty, 66, in February 2020. It hit shortly after Sandoval pleaded guilty to his own corruption charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Sandoval then died in December 2020.
But several others connected to Doherty’s schemes have been charged in the years since, and most have pleaded guilty. They include Tobolski, former Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan and suburban businessman Vahooman…
