OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. — A former suburban Chicago mayor pleaded guilty Monday to accepting bribes to support the use of red light cameras in his community.
Tony Ragucci, who quit in 2020, admitted he got $88,000 when he ran Oakbrook Terrace. He pleaded guilty to fraud and tax offenses.
This is the latest conviction related to SafeSpeed LLC’s handling of some Chicago-area communities that installed cameras to record traffic violations.
SafeSpeed said it does not allow payments and any bribes were part of a scheme by people no longer associated with the company.
In April, Louis Presta, who was mayor of Crestwood, was sentenced to a year in prison for accepting $5,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durkin said Ragucci is cooperating with investigators, assistance that could help him when he is convicted. He was a police officer before being elected mayor in 2009.
Oakbrook Terrace red light cameras generated nearly $17 million in revenue from 2017 through April 2021, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Ragucci had championed the cameras as a way to encourage safe driving.
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