Saturday, October 2, 2010

Indictment of McHenry County State's Attorney leads to political turmoil - chicagotribune.com

recent indictment of State's Attorney Louis Bianchi on charges of official misconduct shocked friends and foes alike and reflected a political rift in this conservative stronghold.

Cal Skinner, a former Republican state representative from Lakewood who supports Bianchi, says the "old boy network" didn't like a newcomer state's attorney who bucked the old system of letting defense attorneys plead cases to lesser penalties.

McHenry County Republican Chairman and State Rep. Mike Tryon, who once supported Bianchi, isn't buying the political conspiracy theory. "I don't think these charges are politically motivated at all," he said. "The judicial process has taken over, I think rightly."

The roots of the story go back to 2004, when then-State's Attorney Gary Pack opted not to run for re-election.  Bianchi, 67, was a relative novice in politics who was elected to the office thanks in large part to the support of McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren, who used to be chief of police in Crystal Lake, where Bianchi lives.

By the time Bianchi ran for re-election in 2008, he'd had a falling out with some of his former allies. Nygren and then-GOP Chairman William LeFew backed an unsuccessful challenger for state's attorney, Dan Regna, another former McHenry County prosecutor.

Bianchi came under fire in part, Ekl and others say, because he upset defense attorneys by taking criminal cases to trial rather than letting defendants plead to lesser charges

Indictment of McHenry County State's Attorney leads to political turmoil - chicagotribune.com

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