A Cook County commissioner accused of tax fraud will be arraigned Friday before the same judge who tried Illinois' former governor.
William Beavers, accused last week of using thousands of dollars from campaign accounts for personal use, will appear at 10 a.m. Friday in the courtroom of Judge James Zagel.
In December Zagel sentenced Rod Blagojevich, convicted over the summer of 17 counts of federal corruption, to 14 years in prison. And Zagel isn't the only Blago connection in Beavers' indictment by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office.
He reportedly hired attorney Sam Adam and son Sam Adam Jr., former Blagojevich attorneys, to defend him.
Beavers is charged with three counts of filing false tax returns. Authorities allege he under-reported his total income and taxable income on his federal returns for 2006-2008.
"If politicians choose to use their campaign funds for personal use then they, like all the citizens they serve, share the obligation to honestly report their income and pay the correct amount of taxes," Fitzgerald said in a written statement.
Beavers denied the allegations and told NBCChicago last week the indictment is retaliation because he refused to wear a wire on fellow Commissioner John Daley.
