Former Worth Township Supervisor Charged In Bribery Scheme

ALSIP, IL — Former Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan, known as “Johnny O” in south suburban political circles and for his close ties to former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, has been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery in an ongoing federal probe into a politically connected red light camera company.

The criminal charge was filed Friday in federal court as an information document, which suggests that a defendant may be cooperating in THE federal investigation and plans to plead guilty. O’Sullivan, who lives in Oak Lawn, could not be reached for comment.

O’Sullivan fell under federal scrutiny for his side-gig as a sales consultant for SafeSpeed LLC, which provides red-light cameras to numerous municipalities. SafeSpeed executives have not been charged with wrongdoing.

As a sales consultant, or, “independent contractor” as described by SafeSpeed, O’Sullivan was involved in a contract with the Village of Oak Lawn to install SafeSpeed cameras at various intersections. Oak Lawn trustees voted to approve the contract in February 2014. In his role as “consultant,” O’Sullivan received a portion of the company’s share of revenue generated from red-light camera tickets.

According to the information document, in May 2017 O’Sullivan and another sales consultant, Patrick Doherty, allegedly plotted to bribe an Oak Lawn village trustee by offering the trustee’s son a summer job. The job paid $500 a week, or $4,000, over an eight-week period, working for former Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, for whom Doherty served as chief of staff. Doherty and O’Sullivan, along with former SafeSpeed executive Omar Maani, allegedly planned to use the favor to squeeze a favorable vote out of the Oak Lawn trustee to install more red-light cameras at village intersections, which required approval by the Oak Lawn Village Board.

According to court records, during a cell phone call around May 25, 2017, Doherty allegedly told O’Sullivan that he would make the payments to the trustee’s son “if it’s going to get us the job,” and later added, “I’ll just pay it. Just make sure we get the [expletive] thing, the contract.” Prosecutors said O’Sullivan provided Doherty with the trustee’s son’s cell phone number so that Doherty could offer him a job.

Doherty was charged in February 2020 on three counts of bribery in the alleged scheme to bribe the Oak Lawn trustee. More federal charges could be on the way. The Oak Lawn trustee has not been charged with wrongdoing. The Village of Oak Lawn has since parted ways with SafeSpeed when its contract with the company expired.

The following month after Doherty was charged, O’Sullivan submitted a letter resigning as the Worth Township supervisor, an elected post he had held since 2017 after running on the Worth Township Community First slate. The letter did not give a reason why he was resigning and described his sudden departure as a "retirement."

O’Sullivan and former Oak Lawn trustee Mike Carberry, were appointed in 2010 to finish out the terms of state representatives Kevin Joyce (D) and James Brosnahan. The two stuck around long enough to pass Gov. Pat Quinn's unpopular 67-percent state income tax increase in 2011 — the largest tax hike in state history.

O’Sullivan also holds the distinction of being hired and fired three times from Cook County jobs, once for falsifying time cards for his $72,216-a-year job as a hospital system laborer. Although he appealed and won his job back, he left in 2010 for the state legislature. Following his short stint there, Sullivan was hired as a regional superintendent for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. He was later let go for not being "a good fit" with the forest preserves. O'Sullivan was hired back a third time as an $85,000-a-year aide to then-Cook County Commissioner Ed Moody.

Doherty’s former boss, Tobolski, also resigned from the Cook County Board and as mayor of McCook in March 2020. Around that same time, the feds seized $55,205 in cash from Tobolski’s home, including $51,611 “taken from a safe,” the Sun-Times reported. Tobolski was charged “by information” with extortion, suggesting that he, too, has planned to plead guilty.

Also caught up in the red-light camera scandal include Crestwood Mayor Lou Presta, who was re-elected to a third term earlier this month. Presta, was caught in a March 2018 recording accepting an envelope full of cash from a SafeSpeed representative, which he claimed was empty when eventually asked about it over a year later by federal investigators. The Crestwood mayor has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is set for trial in December.