Former Cook County court employee gets probation in bribery case

A former Cook County Circuit Court employee was sentenced Thursday to two years probation for promising an entry-level job in exchange for a bribe.

Jason Carrasco, 44, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to bribery and official misconduct during a hearing at the Bridgeview courthouse, according to court records.

At the time of his 2012 arrest, Carrasco, then a unionized office clerk in the Probate Division, did not have the authority to make hires, Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown said in a statement.

Carrasco had been suspended in October 2012 pending the outcome of an investigation. He last worked for the county in December 2012, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

She would not say whether Carrasco was fired.