James J. Laski

My Fall from Grace: City Hall to Prison Walls James J. Laski

Dead People voted. Absentee ballots changed. Petitions were round-tabled. Who was involved in the "Hired Truck" scandal? How much did Daley know? But most importantly, did someone in City Hall help the Feds get Laski? After becoming City Clerk, the second-highest ranking elected position in Chicago, he helped a friend make hundreds of thousands of dollars. That same friend, as he learned on September 18, 2005, had worn a wire and carried a hidden camera for the FBI. This betrayal led to Laski's ultimately being sentenced to a West Virginia federal prison on September 11, 2006, and to a confrontational and controversial drug program. All in all, over forty people were indicted in the "Hired Truck Program" scandal, many of whom, including Laski, were sent to federal prison. This is the story of one unfortunate man's fall from grace.