Political operative accused of plying Solis with Viagra, arranging massage parlor trips is slapped with $25K fine for unregistered lobbying

A veteran political operative who supplied FBI mole Danny Solis with a steady supply of Viagra and allegedly arranged for the former alderman to receive sex acts has been slapped with a $25,000 fine for failing to register as a lobbyist.

The Chicago Board of Ethics’ hefty fine against Roberto Caldero comes eight months after the Chicago Sun-Times blew the lid off the explosive charges against Solis that prompted the former alderman to spend two years wearing a wire to help the feds build their corruption case against indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14^th).

The board concluded there was “probable cause to conclude” that Caldero, a close associate of former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, had “engaged in several acts of unregistered lobbying in 2015” in violation of the city’s ethics ordinance.

Last Friday, the board met with Caldero and his attorney and gave them an opportunity to refute its finding that “the facts available to the board demonstrated he engaged in unregistered lobbying in several attempts to influence a city elected official on behalf of a client with respect to taking city action in both a legislative matter and an administrative matter.”

Since Caldero and his attorney did not refute the finding, the board found unanimously that Caldero had, in fact, “engaged in unregistered lobbying” and assessed the $25,000 fine.

“I’m disappointed in the decision,” Caldero told the Sun-Times Monday. “We will appeal it and look for other avenues to resolve this issue.”

When the Board of Ethics meets again in October, “it will consider further action against the person who retained or employed Mr. Caldero.”

“If that person is determined to have violated the ordinance by retaining or employing a person who failed to register as a lobbyist as required by the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, that person will be subject to a fine between $500 and $2,000, the maximum fine for this violation,” the ruling states.

The Sun-Times reported in January that the federal affidavit accuses Caldero of plying Solis with Viagra and arranging for the then-chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee to visit massage parlors, where he was allegedly serviced by a prostitute.

Caldero was further accused of soliciting campaign donations from the Cacciatore family, which, among other businesses, owns Elgin Sweeping Services, a major street-sweeping company.

At the time, Caldero was representing Elgin Sweeping in its efforts to obtain relief from a change in the city’s water billing practices that investigators indicated could have cost the company more than $1 million. Elgin Sweeping had a city contract to provide street sweeping services and at the time relied on filling its equipment at city fire hydrants.

During several wiretapped conversations, Solis and Caldero made plans to exchange Viagra or visit massage parlors while also discussing how the alderman might help Elgin Sweeping reduce its water bill.

In late 2014, Solis allegedly placed a series of calls and texts to Caldero asking if he had any of that “blue medicine,” meaning Viagra, according to the feds.

At one point, Caldero explained the Affordable Care Act had made it more difficult to get Viagra and that the price had climbed to $400 for 10 pills, which surprised the alderman.

In July 2015, Solis called Caldero with another request.

“I want to get a good massage, with a nice ending. Do you know any good places?” the alderman said.

When Caldero promised to arrange the liaison, Solis asked, “What kind of women do they got there?”

“Asian,” Caldero said.

“Oh good. Good, good, good. I like Asian,” Solis said.

In an interview in January, Caldero acknowledged providing Solis with Viagra and arranging massage parlor visits, but said he did so out of friendship, not to curry favor for a client.

“If Danny asked me for almost anything, I would do it. It’s never been a quid pro quo,” said Caldero, 65, a longtime friend of both Solis and Gutierrez.

Caldero traced his relationship with Solis to their days as students at the University of Illinois at Chicago when they were both arrested in a protest over low Hispanic enrollment.

Caldero also said there was nothing improper about Elgin Sweeping seeking relief from the city’s plan to increase its water bill by hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

The Cacciatore family has major real estate holdings in the 25th Ward and had donated regularly to Solis for many years, Caldero said.

At the time, Caldero said federal investigators had not contacted him.

Contributing: Mark Brown