The U.S. attorney’s office late Tuesday asked a federal judge to delay the trial for Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson after a relative of the lead prosecutor on the case suffered a health emergency.
Thompson, the 11th Ward alderman and grandson and nephew of two legendary Chicago mayors, is currently set to go on trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Monday on tax-related charges stemming from the collapse of a clout-heavy bank in his family’s longtime Bridgeport neighborhood.
Late Tuesday, prosecutors filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama to delay the trial, saying a family member of Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Netols, who is heading the government trial team, “was hospitalized and will remain hospitalized for an unknown period of time.”
Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson speaks during a City Council meeting at the City Hall on Feb. 21, 2017. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Details about the situation were filed under seal to protect the privacy of Netols’ relative.
The two-page motion stated that Netols had intended to deliver the government’s opening statement in the case and then split arguments and witness examinations equally with his co-counsel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Petersen.
“However, because of the emergency medical situation involving his family member, Netols is currently unavailable to prepare for trial and will remain so for the near future,” the motion stated.
Prosecutors suggested moving the trial to Nov. 1. With court calendars stacked due to COVID-19 protocols, however, the logistics of moving a jury trial at the last minute are complicated.
Prosecutors have said the trial is expected to last up to seven days.
Valderrama is expected to take up the issue on Wednesday morning during a final pretrial conference in the case.
Thompson’s lawyer, Chris Gair, had not yet responded to the motion. He previously made several inferences to the weakness of the charges and said he was seeking a speedy trial to clear the alderman’s name.
Thompson, 51, who has served on the City Council since 2015, was charged in April in a seven-count indictment with filing false tax returns and lying to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials about $219,000 in loans and other payments he’d received from Washington Federal Bank for Savings before it was shuttered in 2017.
Washington Federal’s collapse has also led to federal charges against a number of the bank’s executives and former customers alleging a multiyear, $31 million embezzlement scheme that preceded the institution’s failure.
In a statement after the indictment was announced, Thompson said his “conscience was clear” and that he was guilty only of “inadvertent tax preparation errors.” He said he’d subsequently paid the back taxes owed and repaid the rest of the loan in question.
“I did not commit any crime, I am innocent, and I will prove it at trial,” the statement said. “The charges in the indictment do not relate in any way to my public service or to my professional life. I remain 100% dedicated to serving the people of Chicago to the best of my ability.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Prosecutors seek delay in Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson’s trial, citing health emergency
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