Ex-County Commissioner Sentenced to 11 Years in Bribery Case

Moreno pleaded guilty last July after he was charged with accepting kickbacks to sell bandages to public hospitals

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Moreno to 11 years in prison in connection to federal corruption charges.

Moreno, 61, pleaded guilty last July after he was charged with accepting kickbacks to sell bandages to public hospitals alongside former Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, who was convicted on a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Judge Gary Feinerman handed down the shorter sentence Wednesday, stating that Moreno was "an eager participant" in the schemes.

Moreno and Medrano were arrested last June in the corruption case. They allegedly hatched the scheme in 2010 to accept bribes for exerting their influence to get hospitals to purchase particular bandages.

The two were also accused of accepting a $5,000 bribe to ensure construction of a waste transfer station in Cicero while he was on the community's economic development panel.

In that case, Moreno suggested to a confidential informant that he wanted to be paid to use his influence, but that he wanted to be careful so as not to attract the attention of the authorities.

"I don't want to be a hog; I just want to be a pig," prosecutors allege he said in a secretly recorded conversation with the informant. "Hogs get slaughtered, pigs get fat."

Moreno faced a sentence of 14 to 17 1/2 years in prison following the allegations.

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