John Bills Sentenced to Ten Years for Corruption in Awarding of Chicago Red-Light Camera Contracts

The former assistant transportation commissioner for the city of Chicago was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his role in a corruption scheme involving the city’s red-light camera contracts.

A jury in January convicted JOHN BILLS, 55, of Chicago, on all counts against him.  The conviction included nine counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of extortion under color of official right, one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, three counts of bribery, and three counts of filing false tax returns.

In addition to the 120-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall also ordered restitution in the amount of $2,032,959.50.

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Joseph M. Ferguson, Inspector General for the City of Chicago; and James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.

In 2003, as an assistant transportation commissioner, Bills was a voting member of the city’s Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation committee, which sought vendors under the city’s Digital Automated Red Light Enforcement Program.  In May 2003, the committee recommended awarding contracts to Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., to install cameras that automatically record and ticket drivers who run red lights.  Evidence at trial revealed that from approximately 2003 to 2011, Bills used his influence to expand Redflex’s business with the city, resulting in millions of dollars in contracts for the installation of hundreds of red-light cameras.  In exchange for his efforts, Redflex provided Bills with cash and personal benefits, including meals, golf outings, rental cars, airline tickets, hotel rooms and other entertainment.

Some of the benefits were given directly to Bills, while hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash was funneled to him through a friend, MARTIN O’MALLEY.  Redflex hired O’Malley as a contractor and paid him lavish bonuses as new cameras were added in Chicago.  O’Malley testified at trial that he often stuffed the bonus money into envelopes and gave it to Bills during meals in Chicago restaurants.  In addition, O’Malley testified that he used some of the bonus money paid to him by Redflex to purchase and pay all expenses for a condo in Arizona that Bills used as his own.  O’Malley, of Worth, pleaded guilty in December 2014 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Kendall on Sept. 12, 2016.

After KAREN FINLEY became CEO of Redflex, O’Malley’s commissions escalated and Bills assisted Redflex in being awarded a “sole-source” contract for additional cameras.  The sole source contract was rescinded when a competitor complained.  As the city began the process of issuing a second RFP in 2007, Bills, in his capacity as a non-voting, advisory member of the 2007 evaluation committee, assisted in ensuring that the RFP favored Redflex.  Finley, of Cave Creek, Ariz., pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.  She is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Kendall on Nov. 10, 2016.

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Karen Finley Pleads Guilty to Bribery in Chicago Red-Light Camera Scam

The former chief executive officer of Chicago’s first red-light camera vendor pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge.

As the CEO of Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., KAREN FINLEY funneled cash and other personal financial benefits to a City of Chicago official and his friend, knowing that the payments would help persuade the city to award red-light camera contracts to Redflex, according to a plea agreement. The benefits included golf trips, hotels and meals, as well as hiring the city official’s friend as a highly compensated contractor for Redflex, according to the plea agreement.

The benefits flowed over a nine-year period, from 2003 to 2011, during which time the city expanded the Digital Automated Red Light Enforcement Program by awarding millions of dollars in contracts to Phoenix-based Redflex, the plea agreement states.

Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, Ariz., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal program. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 18, 2016. Finley faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense, and mandatory restitution.

The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; John A. Brown, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Joseph M. Ferguson, Inspector General for the City of Chicago; and Stephen Boyd, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.

According to the plea agreement, Redflex first began competing for the Chicago contract in early 2003, while Finley was then Redflex’s vice president of operations. In the course of the competition, Finley learned that John Bills, who was then an assistant Chicago transportation commissioner in charge of the city’s red-light camera program, was championing Redflex by providing pointers and inside information to Redflex, the plea agreement states.

After Redflex was awarded its first Chicago contract in approximately late May 2003, Finley hired Bills’ friend Martin O’Malley as a contractor for Redflex, in an effort to ensure that Bills would continue to provide assistance to Redflex in future contract negotiations with the city. Finley admitted in the plea agreement that she knew O’Malley was a friend of Bills and that it was important to Bills that Redflex hire him. Finley personally signed O’Malley’s contract, which included provisions for lucrative increases in O’Malley’s compensation as new red-light cameras were added, according to the plea agreement.

After Finley became CEO of Redflex in 2007, O’Malley’s commissions escalated and Bills continued to assist the company, including having at least one red-light contract “sole-sourced” to Redflex, the plea agreement states. Finley states in the plea agreement that she knew Redflex was also paying personal expenses for Bills in order to buy his influence and expand Redflex’s business with the city. These expenses included meals, golf outings, rental cars, airline tickets to Phoenix, rooms at the Biltmore Hotel and other entertainment, according to the plea agreement.

Redflex’s technology uses cameras to automatically record and ticket drivers who run red lights. Between 2004 and 2008, the city paid Redflex approximately $25 million, according to the indictment against Finley, Bills and O’Malley. Bills was a voting member of the city’s Request For Proposal evaluation committee that recommended awarding the contracts to Redflex, the indictment states. In February 2008, the city awarded the “sole-sourced” contract to Redflex, paying the company approximately $33 million, according to the indictment. The city followed up that contract with another one the same month – agreeing to pay Redflex approximately $66 million for the installation of nearly 250 additional red-light cameras.

Bills, 54, of Chicago, was indicted on nine counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, three counts of federal program bribery, three counts of filing a false federal income tax return, and one count each of extortion and conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to proceed to trial on Jan. 11, 2016, before Judge Kendall. Bills retired from the city in 2011.

O’Malley, 74, of Worth, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal program. No sentencing date has been set.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Laurie J. Barsella.

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Details on John Bills' Arrest on Federal Bribery Charge for Taking Cash and Personal Benefits to Steer $124 Million in City Contracts to Redflex for Red Light Camera Program

A retired City of Chicago official who managed the city’s red light camera program for nearly a decade was arrested for allegedly accepting cash and personal benefits totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to steer $124 million in city contracts to Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. to establish, operate, and expand the program. The defendant, John Bills, allegedly received cash bribes, other forms of payment, and an Arizona condominium, all funneled from Redflex through unnamed Individual A, Bills’ one-time friend who received $2 million in salary, bonuses, and commissions as a consultant to Redflex.

Bills, 52, of Chicago, was charged with one count of federal program bribery in a criminal complaint.

Between 2003, when the city awarded Phoenix-based Redflex its initial contract, and 2011, Bills allegedly received from Individual A cash and checks directly and indirectly for his benefit, including to repay loans, for his retirement party, and catering for another party. Individual A also purchased for Bills a Glendale, Arizona condominium for $177,000, which Bills, often with friends and family, visited 22 times between May 2008 and 2012.

Bills, who retired in 2011 as managing deputy commissioner of the city’s transportation department after 32 years with the city, managed the city’s red light program and served as a member of the city’s contract evaluation committee.

According to an FBI affidavit supporting the charges, in October 2003, the city awarded a contract to Redflex for the installation, maintenance, and operation of the city’s first Digital Automated Red Light Enforcement Program (DARLEP), which used cameras to automatically record and ticket drivers who ran red lights. Between 2004 and 2008, the city paid Redflex approximately $25 million under this contract, and Redflex installed and maintained 136 camera systems in Chicago intersections and assisted in reviewing and processing violations. Bills, then assistant transportation commissioner, was a voting member of the city’s request for proposal (RFP) evaluation committee that recommended awarding the contract to Redflex after a one-month trial run of competing systems by Redflex and another finalist. In February 2008, the city awarded a new, non-competitive contract to Redflex to operate and maintain the previously installed 136 camera systems and paid Redflex approximately $33 million under that contract.

Also in February 2008, following the competitive RFP process, the city awarded a new DARLEP contract to Redflex that was similar to the first. Bills was an advisory member of this RFP evaluation committee. The city paid Redflex approximately $66 million under this contract, which resulted in approximately 248 red light cameras being installed, bringing the total number of Redflex cameras to 384 and the total amount the city has paid Redflex to approximately $124 million.

By 2010, Chicago had the largest red light camera program in the United States, representing 20 percent of the total camera systems that Redflex operated nationwide. For Redflex, a subsidiary of Australian-based Redflex Holdings Ltd., the Chicago contract was its most important because of the revenue it generated and the name recognition it gave the company, according to the affidavit.

The complaint affidavit is supported by information from Confidential Source 1 (CS1), a former Redflex employee who initially provided Bills in 2002 with an unsolicited proposal to install red light cameras in Chicago. Frequent communications between CS1 and Bills led CS1 to understand that Bills was trying to determine if he could get money from Redflex in return for the company getting the red light camera contract. Shortly after a January 3, 2003 pre-bid meeting that CS1 attended with other vendors, Bills asked CS1 to get him and his friends a hotel room in Los Angeles. CS1 paid for Bills’ hotel room with the approval of CS1’s superiors, believing that it would influence Bills to help Redflex get the Chicago contract. As CS1 anticipated, Bills did not offer and did not reimburse CS1 for the hotel room and instead thanked CS1, who submitted a voucher and was reimbursed by Redflex.

Between February and May 2003, during a pilot phase with Redflex and a competing vendor, Redflex paid for drinks and meals for Bills. Upon Bills’ recommendation, Redflex hired Company A as a subcontractor. In May 2003, before the city contract was awarded, Bills made comments to remind CS1 that Bills was being courted by the competing vendor. After Bills and CS1 strategized to ensure a favorable result, on May 27, 2003, the evaluation committee and city transportation commissioner recommended that Redflex be awarded the DARLEP contract, which went into effect in October 2003.

At a celebratory dinner in June 2003, Bills allegedly told CS1 words to the effect of “It’s time to make good,” which CS1 understood to mean that Bills wanted and expected to be paid for helping Redflex win the Chicago contract. Bills allegedly floated alternative suggestions for funneling benefits to him, including suggesting that Redflex could pay him through the newly created Chicago customer liaison position. During the summer and fall of 2003, Redflex hired Individual A to fill that position and negotiated his compensation structure. In addition to salary and bonuses, Redflex payments to Individual A included commissions totaling more than $1.34 million between 2008 and 2011.

Before Bills retired, he allegedly made it known to CS1 and other Redflex employees that he wanted a job with Redflex. After it was decided that Redflex could not hire him directly, Redflex arranged for Bills to get a job with Company B, which was funded by Redflex. That job lasted through the early spring of 2012.

The affidavit alleges that between late 2003 and November 2012, Individual A and Bills used several different methods to transfer funds to Bills. In 2008, Individual A purchased the Glendale, Arizona condominium for Bills’ use. In addition, checks written on Individual A’s bank account were used to repay debts Bills had accumulated and also to pay for personal expenses of Bills and his family. Individual A also withdrew large amounts of cash, totaling more than $643,000 between 2006 and 2011, which temporally correspond to Bills’ repayment of loans as well as Bills’ payment of numerous personal expenditures, including purchasing a $12,500 used Mercedes-Benz, with cash. Although some of Bills’ cash expenditures do not correspond to specific withdrawals by Individual A, Bills’ financial records reflect no withdrawals of cash by him to support the personal expenditures. In fact, records reflect very little cash on-hand by Bills during this time period.

Federal program bribery carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

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