{"id":200075,"date":"2022-02-01T17:37:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T01:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=200075"},"modified":"2022-02-01T18:02:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T02:02:41","slug":"ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Illinois Lawmaker Luis Arroyo Pleads for Probation in Gambling Corruption Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawyers for former Illinois state Rep. Luis Arroyo<\/a> are asking for clemency for their client, who has pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to his support of the state\u2019s sweepstakes industry.<\/p>\n

\"Luis
Luis Arroyo arriving at the Dirksen Federal Building shortly after his arrest in October 2019. His lawyers say a prison sentence could kill the former Democratic lawmaker. (Santiago Covarrubias\/Chicago\u00a0Sun-Times<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They hope to convince US District Judge Steven C. Seeger to sidestep the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 in favor of probation.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors accuse the Democratic lawmaker, 67, of accepting kickbacks from sweepstakes operator James Weiss, and of plotting with Weiss to bribe an unnamed senator for his support.<\/p>\n

Weiss wanted to grease the skids on legislation that would have eliminated doubt about the legality of sweepstakes machines in Illinois.<\/p>\n

The \u201cunnamed senator\u201d has long been named in the press, including by The Chicago Tribune,<\/em> as former Democratic state Senator Terry Link.<\/p>\n

The Missing Link<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Link has since pleaded guilty to tax evasion. He allegedly agreed to wear a wire during conversations with Arroyo in the hope that the courts would cut him some slack.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Weiss paid bribes totaling $7,500 to Arroyo via his lobbying firm, Spartacus 3. These were not declared to state regulators.<\/p>\n

\n

Arroyo was recorded handing a check for $2,500 to Link, with the promise of similar monthly payments if he agreed to back the sweepstakes legislation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Arroyo was arrested in October 2019 and resigned from his position as assistant majority leader in the House of Representatives shortly afterwards. Initially, he denied the charges, but changed his plea<\/a> to guilty in November 2021. He did not secure a plea bargain with prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\u2018Death Sentence\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chicago\u2019s PBS station WTTW reports that on Saturday Arroyo\u2019s lawyers argued the potential punishment would not fit the crime, which enriched their client by just $7,500.<\/p>\n

They said a prison sentence could \u201ckill\u201d the former lawmaker, and possibly his wife, who is chronically ill.<\/p>\n

The defense cited Arroyo\u2019s former good character, which included \u201cextensive charitable work, public service, community work, generosity with his time.”<\/p>\n

Describing his life as a \u201crags to riches story,\u201d they highlighted his difficult childhood in Puerto Rico. This involved him dropping out of high school to help his family, while enduring beatings from an alcoholic father.<\/p>\n

Mr. Arroyo is not a bad person; rather he is a good person who made a mistake in judgment,\u201d<\/strong> Arroyo\u2019s attorneys argued, calling his criminal acts \u201ca brief dalliance with corruption, encouraged by another corrupt official working for the government.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Making an example of Arroyo to combat graft in Illinois politics would be \u201cno more effective than draining Lake Michigan with a spoon,\u201d they concluded.<\/p>\n

Arroyo is scheduled to be sentenced February 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawyers for former Illinois state Rep. Luis Arroyo are asking for clemency for their client, who has pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to his support of the state\u2019s sweepstakes industry. They hope to convince US District Judge Steven C. Seeger to sidestep the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":200076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Illinois Lawmaker Arroyo Wants Clemency in Gambling Corruption Trial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Luis Arroyo, the Illinois state rep accused of accepting kickbacks from the sweepstakes industry could die in prison, lawyers say,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Illinois Lawmaker Arroyo Wants Clemency in Gambling Corruption Trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Luis Arroyo, the Illinois state rep accused of accepting kickbacks from the sweepstakes industry could die in prison, lawyers say,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-02T01:37:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-02T02:02:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/\",\"name\":\"Ex-Illinois Lawmaker Arroyo Wants Clemency in Gambling Corruption Trial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luis.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-02T01:37:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-02T02:02:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Luis Arroyo, the Illinois state rep accused of accepting kickbacks from the sweepstakes industry could die in prison, lawyers say,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-illinois-lawmaker-luis-arroyo-pleads-for-probation-in-gambling-corruption-trial\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luis.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luis.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Luis Arroyo arriving at the Dirksen Federal Building shortly after his arrest in October 2019. 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