Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke reports to prison after conviction for racketeering and bribery
CHICAGO (CBS) — Former Chicago alderman Ed Burke reported to federal prison in western Illinois on Monday to serve a two-year sentence for racketeering and bribery.
According to a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Burke is in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Thomson in Thomson, Illinois. Thomson is currently a low-security prison and has about 2,000 inmates, according to Bureau of Prisons data.
When federal agents raided Burke's office at City Hall in 2018, it was the first time the public knew the city's longest-serving alderman was under investigation. Five years later in December 2023, Burke left the Dirksen Federal Building a guilty man after a federal jury convicted him or racketeering and bribery.
He is now listed as inmate number 53698-424.
Burke will be given a health assessment, assigned to a housing unit, and provided prison-issued clothing, which includes six white T-shirts, four spruce green shirts, four spruce green slacks, a belt, six pairs of socks, a winter coat, and work boots.
According to the prison handbook, wake-up is at 6 a.m., and beds are to be made daily with a 6—to 12-inch collar on the top sheet.
By law, an inmate is allowed four hours of visiting time a month, but many prisons offer more. Burke may be visited by no more than 10 friends or associates. That limitation does not include visits by immediate family, attorneys, and clergy.
"For him, it's a 180-degree turnabout from being high and mighty to listening to orders of other people every day," said CBS News Chicago Legal Analyst Irv Miller. "Everything he does will be structured. He'll be given a job assignment. He'll have to obey the rules. He could be padded down many times during the day to see if he has any types of weapons or contraband just like any other prisoner."
Burke will be expected to serve at least 85% of the 24-month sentence. With good behavior, he could be released as early as May 2026.
John "Doc" Fuller is a prison coach who provides the unique service of consulting the newly convicted on what to expect once they're incarcerated.
"That first hour is going to be a little traumatic," Fuller said. "He will be stripped search like every inmate."
While Fuller has not consulted Burke, he offered some insight on what the 80-year-old should expect.
"Forget about your title. Forget about anything that you've accomplished prior to coming into prison," Fuller said. "Your new life starts from the day that you walk behind that gate."
In June, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall also imposed a $2 million fine and one year of supervision after his release.
Burke was convicted of schemes to shake down the developers of the Old Post Office in downtown Chicago in exchange for help with tax incentives, the owners of a Burger King franchise restaurant in his ward in exchange for help with permits, and a developer who wanted help getting a pole sign approved for a new Binny's Beverage Depot store. He was also accused of threatening to hold up a fee increase for the Field Museum after learning the museum had not considered his goddaughter for an internship.
These acts occurred late in Burke's career, between 2016 and 2018.
At the time of the sentencing, Kendall said there was "no mitigation" for the seriousness of Burke's crimes, and his actions were "unfortunately an erosion of faith in public officials."
Kendall also admitted she had never seen so many letters written on a defendant's behalf as she did for Burke.
"I have never seen someone go to as many funerals as I've seen in this book. That is such an important moment in someone's life," Kendall said. "He goes to all of them. Not only goes to them, but these handwritten notes to give people hope when they're down."
For much of his time in office, Burke was chairman of the powerful City Council Finance Committee.
After his conviction, Burke – who was the longest-serving alderman in Chicago City Council history – retired as an Illinois attorney, weeks after the Illinois Supreme Court was left unable to act on a bid to disbar him due to a lack of a quorum.
"He knows a lot of people," Fuller said. "Bribery, corruption in Chicago is nothing new."
Indeed, more than 30 members of the Chicago City Council have been tied to corruption cases since the early 1970s.
For just a few relatively recent cases, in 2013, former Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in connection to a scheme by her then-husband, Jesse Jackson Jr. She served 11 months.
That same year, a federal jury found Cook County Commissioner and former Ald. William Beavers (7th) guilty of tax evasion. He failed to report more than $225,000 in campaign cash he used for personal expenses, including gambling sprees at a Hammond Casino.
Former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak (10th) was convicted twice—both times many years after he had left the Council and had twice run for mayor and lost. In 2011, Vrdolyak served 10 months for a real estate kickback scheme, while in 2020, her was sentenced to 18 months for another scheme—but did not report to prison until a year later due to his health.