A project manager for a Chicago-area construction company has been sentenced to two years of probation for his limited role in a scheme to bribe an employee of the Cook County assessor’s office, part of a larger corruption probe that also ensnared former 34th Ward Ald. Carrie Austin.
In addition to the term of probation, John Bodendorfer, 58, of Chicago, must serve two months on home detention and pay a $5,000 fine, according to the sentence handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge John Kness.
Bodendorfer, a project manager at Summit-based Oakk Construction, pleaded guilty to conspiring with his boss, Oakk Construction owner Alex Nitchoff, to provide free home improvement materials and services, to Lavdim Memisovski, a then-commercial group leader at the Cook County assessor’s office.
As project manager, Bodendorfer oversaw the work and materials put in at Memisovski’s personal residence, including a concrete pad, decking materials, dumpster usage, fascias and soffits, a fence, a gas line, heads for a sprinkler system, tile, and windows, according to prosecutors.
Nitchoff separately showered Memisovski with jewelry, meals, tickets to sporting events and other items, according to court records.
In return, Memisovski made sure that appeals of property assessments related to Nitchoff and his business associates, including two tied to Bodendorfer, were routed to him so he could extend deadlines for the filing of appeals and reduce assessed property values.
As part of the investigation, the FBI captured the conspirators talking about the scheme on wiretapped calls. On one July 17, 2018, call, Bodendorfer thanked Memisovski for a tax bill on one of his properties that was “so low it’s ridiculous” and said that he “couldn’t (expletive) be happier,” according to prosecutors.
In a recent sentencing memo, prosecutors said that while Bodendorfer’s role in the scheme was limited, even low-level corruption involving taxes tilts the scales and cheats property owners who are trying to play fair.
“Courts have routinely recognized the seriousness of public-corruption offenses, particularly in this city,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Peabody wrote. “For good reason: a recent report found that Chicago was America’s most corrupt city for the fourth year in a row. The defendant, of course, did not create that well-earned reputation, but his years’-long bribery scheme reinforced it.”
Bodendorfer’s attorney, Steven Shobat, said his client was merely following orders from his boss, barely benefitted from the scheme and has lived an otherwise law-abiding life.
The investigation into Nitchoff’s businesses sparked an FBI raid on Austin’s office in June 2019. She stepped down from her seat while facing bribery charges but was deemed medically unfit for trial last year. Her former chief of staff, Chester Wilson, has since pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge unrelated to Oakk Construction and is awaiting sentencing.
Nitchoff pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison.
Memisovski pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in August. His former colleague at the assessor’s office, Basilio Clausen, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to probation.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
