After a lifetime on the make, John Christopher found himself sitting across a conference table from federal agents accusing him of bank fraud.
He promptly set out to save his own skin.
On that day in October 1991, Christopher–an ex-con who owned a company that hauled demolition debris–laid out the remarkable tale of how he paid off Chicago Ald. Bill Henry for permission to dump broken concrete in the 24th Ward.
For bribes of $5,000 a month, Henry allowed Christopher to bring truckload after truckload of broken concrete–the rubbish created by projects such as the widening of Cicero Avenue–until it rose off the prairie like a drumlin or a moraine, the piles of rocks left behind by glaciers.
Agents dubbed it “Mt. Henry.”
Six months later, shortly after Henry died of cancer, they cut a deal with Christopher. They would let him off the hook for his past transgressions if he would act as a “mole”–a wired informant who could search out government corruption.
By constantly asking for introductions–and sometimes paying for them–Christopher built a network of associates and partnerships in the Chicago City Council and elsewhere.
Crooks trusted him because they knew he was a crook. Aldermen trusted him because other aldermen trusted him. And the mob trusted him because he was one of their own, nephew of a feared hit man.
Once he had established that trust, Christopher began showing around his associate, Mark Dahlonega. Dahlonega, in fact, was the false identity adopted by an FBI agent assigned to keep Christopher on a tight leash and make some of the bribes himself.
In 1994, Dahlonega formed a company called D&R Enterprises Inc., based in Norcross, Ga. As part of the sting operation, two state legislators traveled to the Atlanta suburb, attorneys said last week.
Over four years, the two moles working Operation Silver Shovel made 1,100 audio and video recordings and passed out $150,000 in bribes. Some 40 elected officials, bureaucrats, mobsters and business people are considered targets of the probe, which moved into what agents call the “overt phase” Jan. 5 when they began serving subpoenas and confronting targets.
As the moles expanded their web of acquaintances, they began to increase the diversity of the crimes they were sniffing out. A probe of government payoffs begat investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime and union payoffs.
U.S. Atty. James Burns last week called it “following the flow of the investigation.”
“As we would get leads or get introduced to new or different people, the investigation just continued to move in a lot of different directions,” Burns said. “You go where the leads take you.”
It is difficult to retrace that flow now, before the majority of the 40 targets of the probe even have been identified, let alone charged and tried. But some evidence already has emerged about how the mole burrowed through the government by building his own extensive introduction service.
Many aldermen acknowledge meeting Christopher; many say it was other aldermen who made the introduction.
Ald. Allan Streeter (17th) said he met Christopher through Ald. Virgil Jones (15th).
According to Streeter, Jones said: “There’s a friend who I’ve known over the years who’d just like to get to know you and talk about a crushing site in your ward.”
Streeter recalls that he told Christopher there was no room for such an operation in his ward, ending the conversation.
But Streeter, according to a source close to the investigation, introduced Christopher to Ald. Ambrosio Medrano (25th), who in turn introduced Christopher to two other aldermen.
Medrano is the only public official charged in the probe so far, and he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of extortion. Because his case is further along than the others, it offers the best glimpse into how the sting was run.
Sources close to the investigation outlined how Medrano came in contact with Christopher. According to this account:
Streeter approached Medrano on the floor of the City Council chambers and said that a man named DiVito–a pseudonym Christopher often used–wanted to do some work in Medrano’s ward.
Streeter, Medrano and Christopher met for lunch at the Quality Inn west of the Loop in early 1994. After making the introduction, Streeter left, and Medrano and the man calling himself DiVito sat down for lunch. DiVito said he wanted to put a rock-crushing operation and temporary dump in Medrano’s ward.
On a napkin, DiVito wrote down two numbers.
One, an impressively exorbitant figure, was the amount of money similar operations made in other wards. The other figure was what Medrano’s cut would be.
Though their relationship was just minutes old, DiVito explained that the bribes would come weekly, just as they did in other wards.
According to sources, Medrano said he didn’t make any commitments during the 45-minute lunch. But the two did exchange office numbers, and Medrano also gave DiVito his beeper number.
DiVito picked up the tab for lunch.
At first, Medrano didn’t contact DiVito. DiVito began calling Medrano at City Hall, at his ward office in the Pilsen neighborhood and on his beeper. Medrano eventually agreed to meet DiVito at his waste hauling office at 74th Street and Western Avenue.
At that meeting, their second, DiVito handed Medrano 10 $100 bills.
DiVito made it known he wanted something in return: hauling contracts from the city and minority status for his company–even though it didn’t deserve it–so he could get more city business.
He also said he wanted Medrano to introduce him to other officials.
Early in the relationship, DiVito began going by the name John Christopher. Sources say Medrano never asked why.
About a month after Christopher gave Medrano the first bribe, he asked to be introduced to Ald. Ray Frias (12th), at that time a state representative.
Medrano made the introduction at Christopher’s office, then left the two alone.
Frias’ attorney, David Stetler, said neither he nor his client would comment on the matter because of the investigation.
Shortly after the Frias introduction, Medrano brought Christopher together with Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) when the three had lunch at the Como Inn, 546 N. Milwaukee Ave., sources said.
Suarez, however, has denied ever meeting the mole.
According to government legal papers, there were other introductions as well.
On Oct. 12, 1994, Medrano took a $1,000 payment from Christopher, then said he was setting up a meeting with a state senator to talk about construction contracts.
A week later, Medrano received another $1,000 as he introduced Christopher to another government official, who was not identified in the government documents.
“(He’s) been very good with me,” Medrano was taped telling the official as he introduced him to Christopher. “The only thing that he’d like to see is that, like, when he picks up the phone and he asks you to do something, uh, that we at least try.”
How many aldermen had contact with Christopher remains unclear. Among those questioned by investigators is former Ald. Lawrence Bloom (5th). His lawyer said Bloom was paid a legitimate real estate finder’s fee by Christopher.
While one branch of the mole’s network was growing through City Hall, a separate one was working its way into the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
There, Christopher apparently worked the introduction game through Jim Blassingame, a well-connected adviser and strategist in the African-American political community.
Blassingame was a frequent visitor to the district’s offices and introduced Christopher to district President Thomas Fuller. Fuller said he has been questioned in relation to the probe.
Blassingame is also a longtime friend of district Commissioner Joe Gardner, who has been questioned by investigators too. Blassingame was subpoenaed Friday to appear before the federal grand jury.
Meanwhile, other connections Christopher had made over the years led investigators to crimes unrelated to official corruption.
A nephew of the late Fiore “Fifi” Buccieri, an enforcer for the crime syndicate, Christopher has known members of organized crime his entire life.
Last spring, Christopher met with a mob figure and agreed to help him launder $2.2 million in old U.S. currency, according to court filings. Christopher was told the cash had been accumulated over 50 years by Tony Accardo, the former mob boss.
Christopher’s mob connections also led him to Carl Catuara, son of Jimmy “The Bomber” Catuara, an organized crime figure shot to death in 1977. Catuara was fired last week from his $56,000-a-year job running a West Side driver’s license office after he allegedly helped Christopher obtain a driver’s license under the alias John DiVito in 1993.
Through his business, Christopher also met a construction contractor who had a sideline selling drugs. In full view of surveillance cameras, Christopher allegedly purchased a kilogram of cocaine from Marco Morales, owner of Polmex Construction Co., and another unidentified man. Morales has pleaded not guilty.
And through his business, Christopher allegedly was able to catch union officials committing crimes.
At least one Teamster official is suspected of taking a payoff from Christopher so he could avoid payments to the union’s health and welfare fund, a source said.
Christopher’s business dealings led him to other government agencies. Last week, the city’s water commissioner, John Bolden, quit his $102,792-a-year job after telling Mayor Richard Daley that he took money from Christopher.
Two inspectors in the Environment Department also have been questioned in the probe. So, too, have officials in Cicero and another suburb.
What stuns so many is the breadth of the investigation.
The defense attorney for one target put it this way: “It boggles the mind how easy it was for the feds to do this. Nobody ever learns a goddamn thing.”
