Chicago Judge quotes Luke at city official charged with corruption

The Gospel is glorified in corruption scandals.

Ex-Chicago Department of Buildings supervisor gets 15 months for taking bribes By Jeff Coen |Tribune staff reporter12:23 PM CDT, June 13, 2008

A federal judge Friday sentenced a former Chicago Department of Buildings supervisor to 15 months in prison for taking bribes, saying she wanted to send a message to other employees that public corruption is not acceptable.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow told Kurt Berger that his decision to take money to lift stop-work orders was extremely serious. Lefkow likened it to a judge who made a decision in a court case, "and then accepted a check for $1,000 from the winning side."

"You know that is not the way to carry out a public trust," Lefkow said. "The people of this city relied on you that you would act with integrity."

Berger, 45, had pleaded guilty. He had been charged as part of Operation Crooked Code after he accepted a payment through an inspector who was cooperating with the city's Office of the Inspector General and federal agents. Berger's attorney, Jeffrey Steinback, told Lefkow his client had accepted responsibility for his actions. Public safety was not compromised, Steinback said. Berger viewed the situation as him lifting orders so fixes could be made, the lawyer said, and then taking "thank yous" from contractors.

"It wasn't with the sense that something structural was about to happen, or electrical wires were hanging out and the public was about to be exposed to them," Steinback said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Juliet Sorensen disagreed with that view.

"He was responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the building code," Sorensen said. He was willing to ignore that for payments, she told Lefkow. "That was the bottom line."

When Berger addressed the court, he told the judge he had devastated his family through what he did. Counselors had become involved, and Berger said he knew his wife and three children would suffer when he went to prison.

He had worked for the city for 10 years before the case and had lost his dream job, he said.

"It was a selfish act I participated in without thinking about the consequences," Berger said.

Lefkow said she hoped the sentence she imposed would lead others to think about what it would mean for them if they followed in Berger's footsteps.

The judge agreed Berger had come from a good family, had supported his children, had been a good Catholic and had been entrusted with an important job by the City of Chicago.

"To whom much is given, much is expected," Lefkow told Berger, quoting from the Gospel of Luke.