Recently in Fraud & White Collar Crime Category

A former Army National Guard major from Chicago has been sentenced to five years in prison after admitting to taking bribes from military defense contractors in Afghanistan, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Christopher P. West pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery, conspiracy and fraud in 2009.

The charges stemmed from allegations that West had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from military defense contractors while deployed in Afghanistan. The contractors allegedly paid him to sign off on bogus approvals for supplies that were never delivered to the U.S. military's Bagram Air Base, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gary Winner, a 49-year-old Northbrook man, has agreed to plead guilty to penis pump Medicare fraud.

Winner allegedly sent unwanted penis pumps to diabetes patients claiming that the devices helped the patients with bladder control, urinary flow, and prostate comfort, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

First Carolyn Towns gets busted for selling occupied cemetery plots to feed her gambling addiction. Now, Reverend John Regan gets busted for church theft after he was found guilty of stealing nearly $300,000 from St. Walter Parish to feed his gambling addiction.

A self-described "action gambler," the Catholic priest frequented suburban riverboat casinos where he would test his faith in craps and blackjack, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. But earning only $25,000 a year as a pastor at St. Walter, Regan needed additional funds to keep gaming.

Former Governor Rod Blagojevich sentencing will be determined on October 6th. Blagojevich faces 300 years for crimes he committed while in office. However, legal experts say he more likely will get between six and 15 years, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

In June, Blagojecvich was found guilty of 17 of the 20 corruption and fraud charges brought against him. He was convicted of all 11 counts of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after Mr. Obama was elected President in 2008. He was also convicted of all three counts of attempting to shake down Children’s Memorial Hospital and a racetrack executive, as well as charges for wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, and conspiracy.

The Rod Blagojevich trial will not end. The former Illinois governor has just filed a motion for new trial after he was found guilty on corruption charges last month.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Blagojevich's motion argues that the federal judge who heard his case, Judge James Zagel, ruled too often for prosecutors and denied the former governor the opportunity to properly defend himself. The motion seeks to set aside the convictions and to grant Blagojecvich a new trial.

Former Burr Oak Cemetery director Carolyn Towns was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to a variety of crimes including dismembering a human body, theft from a place of worship, and desecration of human remains.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Towns' sentencing comes almost exactly two years after the grave reselling scandal was discovered at the historic black burial grounds.

In the scandal, Towns was accused of conning the families of recently deceased persons and selling them already-occupied graves. Towns was accused of digging up occupied plots and either dumping the remains of the existing grave into a rubbish pile or "double stacking" the grave.

A federal jury found Rod Blagojevich guilty on 17 of the 20 corruption charges leveled against him.

Most notably, Blagojevich was convicted of all 11 counts of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after Obama was elected President in 2008 reports the Chicago Tribune. This includes an attempt to give the seat to Jesse Jackson Jr. in exchange for $1.5 million in campaign contributions.

Blagojevich was also convicted of all three counts of attempting to shake down Children’s Memorial Hospital and a racetrack executive. In both cases, Blagojevich was alleged to have demanded campaign contributions in exchange for some state action reports the Tribune.

Chicago attorney Philip Igoe, 61, was accused of defrauding clients who sought legal help to save their homes from getting foreclosed, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. The U.S. State’s Attorney’s office said Igoe was charged with six counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice in a criminal indictment.

According to the indictment, Igoe allegedly solicited clients facing foreclosure and told them they could recover their homes if they filed for a loan modification or bankruptcy protection. Igoe then collected money from his clients, assuring them that their payments would go towards their mortgages or Chapter 13 bankruptcy plans when he was actually using their money for his own personal benefit.

Former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison after a seven-year federal prosecution concerning the 2004 hiring fraud at City Hall known as the "Hired Truck" scandal. According to the Chicago-Sun Times, Sanchez was only one out of 49 people who were expected to be convicted for the scam.

Last summer, Sanchez was convicted of one count of fraud in connection the deceptive hiring scheme where coveted city jobs were offered to candidates who were political soldiers. Prosecutors had claimed that Sanchez arranged for others to create fake resumes, rate forms, and accept late applications to reward the candidates.

Reputed Chicago mobster Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno was found guilty on 15 criminal counts including racketeering last Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. He faces up to 25 years in prison for the racketeering charge.

Michael Sarno has prior convictions related to his work in the 1990s with the infamous Outfit gang but the racketeering conviction is by far his most serious to date. Four other defendants were found guilty of the same charges in the trial, including 86-year-old getaway driver Samuel Volpendesto.