Feds ask for probation for ex-state Sen. Terry Link, who wore FBI wire against colleague

Federal prosecutors have recommended a sentence of probation for ex-state Sen. Terry Link on tax-related charges, citing his extensive undercover work in a high-profile bribery investigation that included wearing a wire against a fellow colleague in the state legislature.

Link, of Vernon Hills, pleaded guilty in September 2020 to failing to report income on his tax returns to the IRS and spending more than $73,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses.

He also underreported income on returns for tax years 2012 through 2015, causing the IRS and Illinois Department of Revenue a total of about $83,000 in lost tax revenue, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for up to a year in prison for Link. In a 10-page memo filed Tuesday, however, federal prosecutors asked for three years of probation, citing Link’s cooperation against then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo and businessman James Weiss, who were both convicted of bribery related charges based on Link’s cooperation in an elaborate sting operation.

Link, a Democrat who resigned from the senate shortly before pleading guilty, was the star witness against Weiss, the son-in-law of Cook County Democratic heavyweight Joe Berrios, telling the jury about Weiss’ and Arroyo’s efforts to pay him off to support legislation favorable to Weiss’ sweepstakes gaming business.

Weiss was convicted and sentenced last year to 5 1/2 years in prison.

Arroyo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to bribery for his role in the scheme but did not agree to cooperate with prosecutors. He’s currently serving a nearly five-year sentence at a minimum-security facility in Florida, where he is due to be released in February 2026.

Although Link “betrayed the public trust by taking money from his campaign account” for personal purposes, he went on to provide “extensive cooperation, including providing information, making recordings, and testifying in court, which led to convictions against others,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine O’Neill wrote in the filing.

Link is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6  by U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland.

The investigation that ensnared Arroyo and Weiss was one of several blockbuster public corruption probes to go public in 2019.

According to court testimony, Weiss agreed to pay monthly $2,500 bribes to get language helping his sweepstakes gaming machine business added to state gambling legislation, first to Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, and later to Link, who at the time was the chief sponsor of the gambling bill in the Senate.

Unbeknown to both Arroyo and Weiss, Link was secretly cooperating with the FBI and captured a conversation in June 2019 with Arroyo at a Highland Park Wendy’s where the bribe payments were first discussed, as well as a later meeting where Arroyo delivered a $2,500 check from Weiss.

In a sentencing filing last week, Link’s attorney, Catharine O’Daniel, also asked for probation, calling his tax transgressions “an unfortunate chapter in an otherwise respectable and unblemished life.”

O’Daniel wrote that Link’s financial troubles began when he dipped into campaign funds to help out a longtime friend who had fallen on hard times and whose wife was seriously ill. Link made “frequent payments” to the friend over a period of years without a contract, “a promissory note or even an I.O.U.,” she wrote.

“At all times, Mr. Link intended to repay the campaign funds once (his friend) reimbursed him,” O’Daniel wrote. Sadly, she said, the friend’s wife and son both died, followed by Link’s friend, who developed cancer and died in December 2018 without ever having paid Link back.

O’Daniel said Link also used some of the campaign funds he withdrew for personal expenses, though she did not elaborate.

When the FBI approached him about his taxes, he “immediately agreed” to cooperate, participating in recorded conversations and meetings over a two-year period and testifying before a federal grand jury in October 2019, O’Daniel wrote.

“In word and in deed, Mr. Link has done everything in his power to right his wrong,” she said.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com