From the Chicago Tribune

State legislator charged in election fraud
By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 9, 2004
A South Side state lawmaker whose controversial reelection bid gained the
strong backing of the city's preeminent political muscle was indicted
Wednesday by a Cook County grand jury on three felony counts of election
fraud.
State Rep. Patricia Bailey, who beat back a Democratic primary challenge by
former Death Row inmate Aaron Patterson, came under investigation after a
Tribune report in March that raised questions about her residency.
Though she had filed election documents with the state claiming to live at
an address in the 6th District, which she represents, Bailey appeared to be
living at her mother's house outside the district, the Tribune found.
After reviewing the case for months, Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan sought
the indictment. The criminal charge includes two counts of perjury and one
count of falsifying an election document.
"This indictment alleges a serious breach of the public trust," Madigan said
in a statement.
If convicted, Bailey could face 2 to 5 years in prison for the perjury
charges and 1 to 3 years for the falsification count, Madigan aides said.
Bailey, whose campaign has been heavily financed by Chicago-area
law-enforcement groups, would automatically forfeit her legislative post and
be ineligible to hold any government job for five years following completion
of her sentence.
Bailey declined to comment when met by a reporter at a duplex on West
Garfield Boulevard, an address she listed on her most recent voter
registration.
"We don't have any comment," added Mike Kasper, an election lawyer for the
Democratic Party of Illinois.
When questions first were raised about Bailey's residence, the state party
backed her story and provided Kasper to help her with legal advice. Bailey
has had the strong political backing of Cook County Commissioner John Daley.
The charges come less than two months before the Nov. 2 election, in which
Bailey, 51, is running unopposed.
Tom Leach, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said
Democratic leaders in Bailey's district could replace her on the ballot if
she were to drop out of the race or plead guilty more than 15 days before
the election.
Bailey's district, which includes the starkly different neighborhoods of
Englewood and Bridgeport, gained widespread attention when Patterson
challenged her in the primary and alleged that she was "missing in action."
Patterson finished third in the race behind Bailey and Jerry Washington, a
former state legislator. Since then, Patterson has been charged by federal
prosecutors on gun and drug charges and is awaiting trial.
Following the primary, Washington filed a lawsuit that challenged Bailey's
placement on the ballot, alleging that she had fraudulently filed documents
claiming that she lived in the district. But last month, a Cook County judge
presiding over the suit refused to disqualify Bailey.
Questions about Bailey's residency first surfaced in March after the Tribune
reported that she did not appear to live where she claimed.
Neighbors said she lived in her mother's home at 4217 S. Wells St., which is
outside the district. In October 2003, Bailey had changed her voter
registration address to 4538 S. Hermitage Ave., which is in the district.
But the apartment building at the Hermitage address had just one resident,
and Bailey did not live there, according to the pastor of the Catholic
church that owns the property and was converting it to another use.
After a brief investigation following the primary, the Chicago Board of
Election Commissioners said it found enough evidence of possible fraud to
forward findings to Cook County prosecutors for a potential felony-level
criminal investigation.
Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine then referred the case to Lisa
Madigan because Bailey's mother, Janie Bailey, 77, is a longtime employee of
Devine's office.
"She will have her day in court like anybody else," said Janie Bailey, who
added that her daughter's new home had recently been broken into and was
undergoing repairs.
Janie Bailey said her daughter was in the process of buying the property on
West Garfield Boulevard in 2003 when credit problems triggered by identity
theft prevented Patricia Bailey from closing on the purchase.
Still, even on Wednesday, neighbors on Janie Bailey's block said Patricia
Bailey has continued to live with her mother except for brief periods when
news reports questioning her residency surfaced.
"I've been living here for five years, and she's been here every day," said
Andre Bowman, a neighbor.
John Daley declined to say whether he would pressure Bailey to step down.
"This is unique," he said. "I have never faced this before."
While Chicago has seen many criminal cases involving alleged improprieties
of elected officials, almost all have been brought by federal prosecutors in
recent decades.
"It's rarely done by the attorney general," said Michael Lavelle, a former
chairman of the Illinois State Board of Elections. "It seems like the feds
are the ones with the highest investigative ability, and they have the
greater resources."
Bailey is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 27.
Tribune staff reporter Carlos Sadovi contributed to this report
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune