When it comes to electing aldermen, you definitely can’t judge a book by its cover

When Willie Cochran ran for City Council in 2007, he looked like the perfect replacement for a crooked alderwoman.

After all, Cochran was a former police sergeant and business owner. He also served on the local school council and had coached youth basketball.

The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Cochran in 2007, pointing out that his top priority would be “restoring trust in the community.”

When Cochran ran for re-election four years later, he ended up in a run-off election against Che “Rhymefest” Smith, a Chicago rapper who didn’t make the cut primarily because, well, when it comes to politics, hip-hop artists weren’t appreciated as much back then as they are today.

We gave Cochran points for being off to a “good start,” defined him as a community organizer and described him as “burrowing” in on issues such as housing and commercial development, and foreclosure relief.

Man were we hoodwinked.

After sucking up money from taxpayers in the form of paychecks and abusing campaign donations to pay for his personal obligations and gambling debts, Cochran was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Monday.

I’m not surprised that aldermen are still getting caught up in illegal schemes.

Still, you would think by now, the accusations would be few and far between given that dozens of aldermen have gone to prison.

During the sentencing procedure, Cochran played humble like most corrupt officials do.

“I am better than this,” he said, and described himself as a “community builder,” a phrase former Cook County Commissioner and now Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia used when he endorsed Cochran in 2011.

We were all bamboozled.

Maybe the power coupled with access to other people’s money makes elected officials go loco.

Cochran was indicted in 2016 and charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of federal program bribery and two counts of extortion.

He reneged on a plea deal in 2018, but in March, Cochran pleaded guilty to one felony count of wire fraud and admitted he took $14,285 for his personal use from a charitable fund he set up for needy children and seniors.

Since Cochran spent a big chunk of the money on gambling, it is easy to blame an addiction for this crime.

But what about all those other elected officials that used their privileged status to enrich themselves?

They weren’t gamblers. They were crooks.

After faking humility before the bench, Cochran unleashed on federal prosecutors after he was sentenced.

“There’s no justice in this. I’m not happy about it. My family’s not happy about it,” he said “The mistake I made was to plead guilty.”

No, the mistake he made was filching from the donations that his constituents gave in good faith.

The mistake he made was thinking he would get away with fraud in a ward that has seen more than its share.

Instead of being angry, Cochran should be grateful the judge gave him a break by sentencing him to serve a year and a day in prison.

With credits for good conduct, Cochran could be out in 10 months.

That’s part of the problem.

As a former police officer, Cochran didn’t deserve a break.

Former Deputy Supt. James Whigham said Cochran “took like a duck to water” when he worked as a chief financial officer of the Bureau of Technical Services.

So we are not dealing with someone who made an honest mistake.

Additionally, Cochran’s misuse of donations will likely make it harder for other aldermen to raise funds for their own charities.

Despite the bad behavior of some cops, many of us still hold police to a higher standard and give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their character.

That’s how Cochran ended up in the City Council in the first place.

His reluctance to accept responsibility for his crime now shows what we are dealing with.

Unfortunately, Cochran’s arrogance is not uncommon.

Because while aldermen are supposed to be public servants, too many of them act like bosses.

After being sentenced, Cochran vowed to “come back and get everything back that was stolen from us.”

Under the law, Cochran was able to sit in the City Council for more than two years while his corruption case made its way through the courts.

All that time, he was pocketing paychecks funded with taxpayer’s dollars.

When an alderman is indicted on corruption charges and chooses to remain in office, he should have to repay those paychecks if found guilty.

Allowing Cochran and other crooked politicians to stack their coins before going off to jail is the real travesty.