Posted on: October 12, 2023, 10:44h.
Last updated on: October 12, 2023, 10:44h.
The owner of an Illinois sweepstakes machine business has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for bribing two state lawmakers and providing false information to the FBI.
James T. Weiss has denied offering illegal payments to former State Rep. Luis Arroyo and former State Senator Terry Link to gain support for his business. However, a federal jury convicted him in June of offenses including honest services fraud, wire fraud, and bribery.
In 2022, Arroyo was sentenced to five years in prison for accepting $32.5K in bribes from Weiss through his lobbying firm, Spartacus 3, and for conspiring with Weiss to bribe Link.
Weiss hoped that Arroyo would assist in the legalization of sweepstakes machines in Illinois, which currently operate in a legal gray area.
Secret Recordings
Arroyo’s unsuccessful attempt to involve Link in the scheme in June 2019 proved to be his downfall. Unbeknownst to Arroyo, Link had already been apprehended by the FBI for tax evasion and agreed to secretly record the unfolding corruption to potentially reduce his sentence.
In the recorded conversations, Link is heard asking, “What’s in it for me?”
Arroyo responds: “I’m going to give you this here. This is … this is the jackpot,” handing his colleague a check for $2,500.
Arroyo then promised to provide similar monthly payments if Link agreed to support the proposed legislation.
A key witness for the prosecution, Link was convicted of tax evasion in 2020 and is currently awaiting sentencing.
According to prosecutors, when Weiss was interviewed by the FBI in October 2019, he provided false information, including claiming knowledge of someone named “Katherine Hunter” who did not actually exist. Federal agents had instructed Link to make the checks out to this name as part of their investigation.
‘Walk of Shame’
Weiss’ defense argued that the bribery scheme was initiated by Arroyo and that their client had naively gone along with it. However, US District Judge Steven Seeger, in sentencing Weiss, expressed his belief that the scheme originated from Weiss himself.
Judge Seeger criticized the prevalent corruption in Chicago politics, stating, “Mr. Weiss, you added another star to Chicago’s walk of shame on the sidewalk of corruption. You know what? It is an embarrassment. You helped solidify the city of Chicago as the capital of corruption, Mr. Weiss,” as reported by The Chicago Sun-Times.
He also admonished Weiss for attempting to bribe both the House and the Senate, as reported by The Chicago Tribune.
“It was bicameral corruption!” Judge Seeger exclaimed.