Ex-Sen. Martin Sandoval said he was going ‘balls to the walls’ for red-light camera company for thousands in bribes: feds

To state Sen. Martin Sandoval, it wasn’t enough to pocket thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the red-light camera company SafeSpeed while blocking legislation that could put the brakes on its business.

He wanted more — a “protector fee.” And in July 2018, the powerful head of the Illinois Senate’s transportation committee told someone with an interest in SafeSpeed he’d even “go balls to the walls for anything you ask me.”

That was the day Sandoval fell into the same trap that’s ensnared countless Illinois politicians. The SafeSpeed associate had been cooperating with the feds.

Eighteen months later, in a federal courtroom in Chicago, the now former senator found himself pleading guilty Tuesday to corruption charges.

The brazen, Chicago-style scheme outlined in Sandoval’s 27-page plea agreement appears to be just a sneak preview. The agreement says Sandoval also “engaged in corrupt activities with other public officials” and took more than $250,000 “in bribes as part of criminal activity that involved more than five participants.”

Sandoval plans to cooperate with the government, adding his name to the feds’ Who’s Who Telling Who Did What, that includes: former Ald. Danny Solis, former Teamsters boss John Coli and state Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, though Link has denied it.

Like many disgraced politicians before him, Sandoval followed up his guilty plea by telling reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse he was “deeply ashamed.” He resigned from the Senate effective Jan. 1.

“I take full responsibility, and I apologize to the people of Illinois,” Sandoval said.

SafeSpeed spokesman Dennis Culloton released a statement that said, “we are shocked by the information in today’s plea agreement and the betrayal of public trust both by Sen. Sandoval and a person who had an interest in the company, who was not authorized by the company to engage in any illegal behavior or make any commitments or contributions on behalf of the company or its executives.”

While the statement does not name SafeSpeed investor Omar Maani, it’s clear that’s who the company believes was the informant who interacted with Sandoval. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Last October, SafeSpeed co-CEO Nikki Zollar told the Sun-Times, “we don’t pay people off.”

Still from SafeSpeed video

Sandoval’s conviction is the first in the ongoing federal investigations into public corruption revealed in the November 2018 search of Ald. Edward M. Burke’s office.

It wasn’t until Sandoval’s hearing began Tuesday that it became clear he would plead guilty to bribery and filing a false income tax return. Though he faces a possible sentence of 10 to 12 years, federal prosecutors are expected to ask for leniency if he continues to cooperate.

No sentencing date has been set.

Sandoval could be seen wiping his face with his hands before the judge took the bench, and he only spoke when questioned by the judge. At one point, he seemed to inadvertently reveal the identity of SafeSpeed, which had been referred to in court records only as “Company A.”

“I accepted money in exchange for the use of my office as state senator to help SafeSpeed — Company A,” Sandoval told the judge.

He also admitted filing false tax returns for the years 2012 and 2017 that cost the IRS $72,441 and the Illinois Department of Revenue $13,384.

Sandoval’s SafeSpeed scheme dated back to 2016, according to his plea agreement. That’s when he asked the SafeSpeed associate for $20,000 in annual campaign contributions “in return for Sandoval’s official support” for the company.

The associate agreed, and the payments began. But in August 2017, Sandoval spoke to the associate and discussed splitting up the contributions into smaller amounts. The associate said SafeSpeed’s president did not want the contribution to “shout out” or raise a red flag.

Then, following publicity tying Sandoval to SafeSpeed, Sandoval tore up a check from the associate and arranged for an “unrelated” entity to make a $10,000 contribution “to a campaign associated with Sandoval.”

A Chicago Tribune story was published in late September 2017 raising questions about Sandoval’s relationship with the company, and in December a $10,000 donation was sent by Jeff Tobolski’s campaign fund to Sandoval’s daughter’s political fund, records show.

Tobolski, a Cook County commissioner and the mayor of McCook, saw his home and municipal office raided shortly after Sandoval’s home and offices were raided in September as part of the same investigation.

Tobolski hasn’t been charged with a crime and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Sandoval’s daughter Angie ran unsuccessfully for the Cook County Board in 2018.

The feds say the SafeSpeed associate didn’t begin to cooperate until 2018. Early that year, Sandoval arranged to collect another $10,000 from the associate through an unnamed bagman, while assuring the associate he shouldn’t worry about legislation that would ban red-light cameras.

Finally, in July 2018, Sandoval met with the SafeSpeed associate at a restaurant in Burr Ridge. That’s when Sandoval began to complain.

Sandoval said he’d learned of deals the company had cut with other people. The associate said they’d received a “sales-consulting fee.”

“They get a percentage of the revenue that is brought in by specific community,” the associate said.

“Like I did in Oakbrook [Terrace],” Sandoval said.

The associate agreed, and Sandoval said, “so why don’t I get that offer?”

“It galls me to know, but because we’ve established such a great relationship, um, ‘cause you know I’ll go balls to the walls for anything you ask me . . . It’s hard for me to swallow how [people] make so much off of you. Right? And I gotta do the work.”

The two discussed payment for Sandoval’s role as SafeSpeed’s “protector” in the Senate. He told the associate, “I usually say, ‘What’s reasonable? You tell me.’”

“I’m not trying to be dramatic, but I’m telling you the vultures would be all over that sh— [red-light cameras] if you had the wrong person there.” He added, “I think the protector aspect, it never changes. If there’s a . . . bill or something like that, if you set a fee, a protector fee, unless there’s something really f---ing extraordinary.”

Sandoval also asked whether the associate had “a bologna company or something innocuous” as they discussed ways to make the payment. The associate eventually agreed to pay Sandoval $5,000 a month.

On Aug. 29, 2018, the pair met again at a restaurant in Burr Ridge, where Sandoval took $15,000 “which constituted protection money for acting to advance” SafeSpeed’s interests in the Senate, according to Sandoval’s plea agreement.

By last September, it said, Sandoval had taken $70,000 in “protection money” from the associate. That same month, federal authorities raided Sandoval’s home and offices.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times