Amer Ahmad fought the law, but the law won.
A federal court sentenced the Rahm Emanuel's former aide to 15 years in prison on Monday for orchestrating a kickback and money-laundering operation while he was Ohio's deputy state treasurer, the Associated Press reports.
Ahmad wasn't present to hear his fate at the Columbus, Ohio courthouse.
The former Chicago comptroller—once a rising star within Mayor Emanuel's administration—pleaded guilty last December to charges of conspiracy and bribery after strategizing with mortgage broker Joseph Chiavaroli on a mutual get-rich scheme wherein Ahmad leveraged his government status to land state contracts. Chiavaroli, a Chicagoan, was given 18 months in prison at Monday's sentencing.
Ahmad went on the lam this past spring to avoid a stint behind bars. He attempted to seek refuge in Pakistan, but was detained after landing in the city of Lahore with a forged visa, passport and birth certificate as well as $176,000 in cash.
Days before botching his April escape plan in epic fashion, a bailed-out Ahmad fled Chicago for San Diego and then crossed the Mexican border on foot. In a journal account (entitled Journey to Freedom: Who Said Escaping Justice Would Be Easy?), he wrote: "I should have left many, many months ago. S---, I should have left after the first FBI interview back in November of 2012, when I still had all my documents and wasn't indicted or anything."
