What The Feds Didn't Take Betty Loren-Maltese Is Now Selling
Updated 9/3/11 6:51 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) – In these tough economic times, lots of people are turning to garage sales – even former Cicero town president Betty Loren-Maltese.
Maltese was her usual jovial self as shoppers arrived in droves, hours before the garage sale was even supposed to open.
"This is my favorite game of all time – Scrabble, I love it," Shirley Krezel said of her finds. "And a cookbook for my granddaughter."
Maltese, who served a federal sentence, said her reasons for holding the sale were simple.
"Out of necessity and out with the old, in with the new. Might as well. I mean, I can't afford storage anymore," she told CBS 2's Susan Carlson.
The items on sale are ones federal agents left behind when they raided her home in Cicero. The feds may not have considered them valuable, but they certainly were to her loyal supporters.
"I got a clown and some candles and a book signed by the one and only," Colleen Bowman said.
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Maltese seems to be selling everything, from a shoe collection that rivals Imelda Marcos to a wide variety of apparel to outdated technology. Even all of her clown figurines were for sale.
"A couple people started bringing me clowns at town hall and the next thing I know, everyone that came to visit brought clowns," Loren-Maltese said.
Harry McCullagh bought what was left of the whole clown collection for $85.
"I just don't get it. I mean, I'm really not that important," Loren-Maltese said.
The garage sale will continue through Sunday. Even though she still owes restitution from her 2002 corruption conviction, she says she's pretty sure any cash she pockets will be hers to keep.
