Man who bribed ex-city clerk gets jail time

Jones, 49, wore a wire on his long-time friend and boss, Laski, and detailed to the feds how he bribed Laski to get trucks on the city’s scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program.

Jones told prosecutors things they never knew about Laski and was instrumental in Laski going to prison.

“If it were not for Mr. Jones, the city of Chicago would have a corrupt, bribe-taking city clerk in office today,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Manish Shah said.

Jones paid Laski $500 a month in bribes from 1998 to 2001 to get one dump truck in the program. The bribe later doubled when Laski got two trucks linked to Jones into the program.

Jones’ attorney, Michael Ettinger, described the nightmare Jones and his family had faced since Jones decided to cooperate. Jones has seen a psychologist, had his life threatened and had friends turn away from him, Ettinger said.

Jones could have received up to 30 months in prison but got the break because of his extraordinary cooperation. Laski, who repeatedly lied to the feds before eventually cooperating, was sentenced to two years in prison in June.

Jones apologized for paying the bribes.

“I made a bad decision, and an error and most of all, I did something very wrong, and I embarrassed my family,” Jones said.

swarmbir@suntimes.com