Feds seeking 1-year sentence for former Ald. Ricardo Muñoz

Federal prosecutors are seeking a year-and-a-day prison sentence for convicted former Ald. Ricardo Muñoz, according to a court memo filed Wednesday.

Muñoz pleaded guilty in September to stealing almost $38,000 from the Progressive Reform Caucus that he used for personal expenses like a family member’s college tuition, skydiving and a booking at a Lover’s Lane in West Dundee.

Muñoz faced 15 wire fraud counts and one money laundering count in the indictment filed against him April 29. It accused him of trying to cover his tracks by repaying the money he took from the Progressive Reform Caucus or by claiming it was for “consulting” or “Election Day expenses.”

Sentencing guidelines for Muñoz’s crimes are between 10 to 16 months in prison, according to the prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum.

Prosecutors, in the memo, said a year in prison is “sufficient, but not greater than necessary.”

Muñoz is also expected to pay more than $6,000 in restitution “owed to the victim.”

Muñoz’s attorney, Richard Kling, declined comment Wednesday.

The former six-term 22nd Ward alderman is expected to be sentenced Jan. 5.

Muñoz, 57, announced his retirement from the City Council in 2018.

He was charged in a domestic violence incident involving his wife early in 2019, but a Cook County judge found him not guilty of misdemeanor battery in June of that year. Muñoz was also in counseling for alcoholism that year.

Contributing: Jon Seidel