Markham Mayor Bribery Scheme: Homer Glen Man Sentenced

HOMER GLEN, IL — A Homer Glen man has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for lying to federal law enforcement about his knowledge of a bribery scheme involving the mayor of Markham, according to a release from the U.S Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.

Thomas Summers, 68, was convicted in 2019 of making false statements to the FBI and the IRS, the release states. The agents interviewed Summers in November 2016 as part of a public corruption investigation involving bribes paid to then-Markham Mayor David Webb Jr. by contractors seeking to maintain or expand business with the town. During the interview, Summers lied to agents when he denied having knowledge about bribe payments.

Webb, who served as mayor of Markham from 2001 to 2017, pleaded guilty and admitted participating in a bribery scheme. According to the attorney's office, he is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2021.

U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman imposed Summers’s sentence Tuesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

“Defendant showed no respect for the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Dollear and Georgia N. Alexakis argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in the Summers case. “He sat across from federal agents and lied. He lied to protect himself and Webb, and the corrupt relationship they shared.”

A Mokena business and its president have also been convicted as part of this federal investigation. According to the attorney's office, Michael Jarigese, 67, of Frankfort, was sentenced in March to three years and five months in prison, while Tower Contracting was fined $1.2 million and sentenced to four years of probation.