When the FBI investigated the Cook County Sherriff’s Office for a ghost-payrolling scheme in 2022, agents uncovered evidence that a high-ranking official had been involved in misconduct years earlier – and was not disciplined, but promoted. The FBI found that the official had been robbed at gunpoint outside of an illegal gambling den and fired his county-issued gun at the robbers. The official, who oversaw key parts of Cook County’s jail system, was later terminated, but authorities tried to conceal records from the investigation. With support from the Fund, Max Blaisdell requested the FBI records that had been turned over to the Cook County Sherriff’s Office, but the FBI told the Sherriff’s Office to deny the request, so Blaisdell obtained them from the Sherriff’s Office internal affairs division, under the state’s open-records law.
Grantee obtains new evidence that FBI uncovered serious misconduct by top Chicago jail official
