Prosecutor extolls ex-Ald. Daniel Solis’ ‘singular’ cooperation as judge goes along with deferred prosecution deal

A federal prosecutor on Thursday delivered an impassioned defense of the deferred prosecution deal with former Ald. Daniel Solis, telling the federal judge overseeing the high-profile case that Solis’ cooperation was perhaps “singular” even in the city’s long history of political corruption.

“Some may view (Solis’ cooperation) as being with little precedent, but what Mr. Solis did also was with little precedent,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said during a status hearing in Solis’ case. “He didn’t just talk. He took action. He worked with the federal government for six years to expose corruption.”

Bhachu was responding to a victim-impact statement from Solis’ replacement as 25th Ward alderman, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who asked U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood to consider Solis’ “rampant and unchecked corruption” when deciding whether to go along the deal, which will leave Solis with a clean slate in three years if he continues to cooperate.

Sigcho-Lopez urged the judge in the two-page letter to consider “scaled and appropriate penalties” that reflect the seriousness of Solis’ conduct, which he said did long-term damage to the citizens of the ward.

“If former Alderman Solis is not held accountable/charged, we feel that our hard work to reform will be undone,” Sigcho-Lopez wrote.

Bhachu, however, told Wood on Thursday that the letter overstated Solis’ misconduct and failed to take into account the unprecedented level of his cooperation.

When Solis was confronted by investigators back in 2016, Bhachu said, he “had a choice” about what his path would be, including to refuse to cooperate, deny accountability, and fight any charges that came his way.

“That is an easy path that many in this city to date have followed,” Bhachu said. “Mr. Solis chose a more difficult path, judge. He cooperated with the government for approximately six years. When we asked him to meet, he did so. When he was asked to make a recording with a third party, he did it.”

During the course of his cooperation, Solis personally made “hundreds of recordings” and helped form the basis of government requests for wiretaps on others, Bhachu said. Solis’ efforts make him one of the most significant government witnesses of the last several decades.

“A lot of people talk about cleaning up corruption, and often all it amounts to is talk,” Bhachu said. “It’s rare when someone actually delivers, and in this regard, Mr. Solis delivered.”

Bhachu also said Solis has suffered for his corruption, even if it won’t include a felony conviction. He lost his seat in the City Council, he can’t run for public office again, and he’s been ostracized by former colleagues, according to the prosecutor.

“Life is never going to be the same for him again,” Bhachu said. “These are all real consequences.”

After Bhachu finished, Solis’ attorney, Lisa Noller, said she had nothing to add, “Because we agree with all of it.”

At the conclusion of the hearing, Wood agreed to exclude time in Solis’ deferred prosecution deal, meaning his case will be set for dismissal on April 8, 2025 as long as he continues to cooperate with the ongoing investigations.

Solis’ legal saga began in 2016 when he secretly agreed to wear a wire for federal investigators and helped build racketeering cases against Ald. Edward Burke and then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, two of the longest-serving and most powerful politicians in the state.

The deferred prosecution deal was signed by Solis on the day after Christmas 2018 and kept secret for nearly 3 ½ years before the U.S. attorney’s office on finally put it on the record earlier this month.

As part of the deal, Solis was charged in a one-count criminal information with corruptly soliciting campaign donations from a real estate developer in exchange for zoning changes in 2015, when Solis was head of the City Council Zoning Committee.

At Solis’ arraignment last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu told Wood he’d learned the city may want to intervene in Solis’ case as a victim. Bhachu said that while the U.S. attorney’s office “always invites the participation of victims in criminal cases,” he thought it was “doubtful” that the city would legally qualify as a victim given the facts of the Solis case.

Hours later, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has been highly critical of Solis’ deal, issued a statement that called him out for violating the public trust “in profound ways” but stopped short of any seeming attempt to derail the deferred prosecution.

Instead, Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, said she had instructed the Law Department to file a victim impact statement with the court.

“Because of all of the crimes that have been put on the public record, Solis victimized the residents of his ward and residents in the entire city, all of whom were deprived of the integrity and honesty that should be sacrosanct with all public officials,” the mayor said. “No one is above the law and Chicago residents expect that their elected officials will be held accountable.”

It was not the first time Lightfoot has been critical of Solis. After the Tribune reported on Solis collecting his pension after leaving office in 2019, Lightfoot said she was “confident he will face a moment of reckoning.”

“What that will be, when that will be, that is not under my control,” Lightfoot said that fall.

She has since publicly and privately criticized the deal prosecutors reached with Solis, calling it “unconscionable” that he might not face a conviction or lose his pension.

In his letter, Sigcho-Lopez detailed a number of ways in which he says Solis’ corrupt zoning practices allegedly have harmed his ward, from displacing thousands of low-income residents in Pilsen to letting politics trump the public interest in important development projects in Chinatown.

“The harm caused by this corruption is generational,” the letter stated. “The people of the 25th Ward continue to feel the aftermath.”

He also touched on the pending cases against Burke and Madigan, who have both pleaded not guilty. In particular, Sigcho-Lopez said lobbyists connected to the alleged corruption schemes “will continue to be rewarded with public contracts without any accountability, if convicted parties are perceived to be ‘let off the hook.’ “

Noller could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch also could not be reached.

“As Mayor, it is my priority that all efforts are made to ensure that individuals engaged in City business are doing so with honesty and integrity. Over the past week, the City has had productive conversations with the U.S. Attorney’s office regarding defendant Daniel Solis. Given the discussions, the City sees no need to formally intervene. Separate and apart from this specific proceeding, we will continue to aggressively protect our residents and notably our taxpayers against individuals who commit crimes or otherwise unethically obtain city resources.”

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com