Former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak leaves the the U.S. Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago on March 7, 2019 after pleading guilty to a federal tax evasion charge. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

       Former Chicago Ald. Edward “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak’s 84th birthday is in December, and it appears he will spend it in federal prison.

       After several pandemic-related delays, a federal judge Monday ordered Vrdolyak to report to the medical facility in Rochester, Minnesota, by Nov. 30 to begin serving his 18-month sentence on tax-related counts.

       Vrdolyak was sentenced almost a year ago for his conviction related to millions of dollars that he and an associate reaped from the state’s massive settlement with the tobacco companies in the 1990s.

       But the pandemic put Vrdolyak’s prison term on hold until a vaccine was widely available. He also suffers from a variety of serious medical conditions and has a compromised immune system, according to his attorneys.

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       In his order Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow said he’s been in communication with prison officials, who assured him they “are comfortable that their institution, which is a medical facility with 24-hour nursing care on every floor and ready access to Mayo Clinic for referrals, can accept (Vrdolyak) and provide any medical care that he needs.”

       The order comes five years nearly to the day after Vrdolyak was first charged. He pleaded guilty in March 2019 to a tax charge alleging he obstructed an IRS investigation into payments to and from his friend and associate Daniel Soso related to the state’s $9.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies in the late 1990s.

       In asking for prison time, prosecutors said Vrdolyak had been paid at least $12 million in fees stemming from the settlement even though he did no legal work on the case and hid his involvement from the Illinois attorney general.

       Soso, 70, a lawyer and former Chicago cop, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of income tax evasion for failing to report more than $3 million in income in the deal. He was sentenced in March 2020 to two years in prison.

       jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

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