February 22, 2004
BY TIM NOVAK AND
STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporters
The City of Chicago has suspended 26 trucking companies that have
been paid more than $35 million since 1999, in the wake of Chicago
Sun-Times stories exposing waste and corruption in Mayor Daley's Hired
Truck Program. But city officials won't say why most were suspended,
saying they remain under investigation.
The city pays about $40 million a year to lease privately owned
trucks -- mainly dump trucks -- to go to city work sites. The Sun-Times
investigation found that trucks often sit idle. It also documented the
political clout and mob ties of some of the program's 165 trucking
companies.
Who owns the 26 businesses whose dump trucks have now been sidelined?
Here's a snapshot look:
*Base Cartage. Owned by Carmel McGuire, this South Side firm
has been in the program since at least 1996. Paid more than $3.4 million
since 1999. It is a certified woman-owned business.
*Blaz Cartage Co. Owned by Scott Janczak, this North Side
company had one of the four dump trucks that did little or no work at a
job site the Sun-Times watched in November. Paid more than $1.6 million
since 1999.
*Chica Trucking Inc. Owned by Patricia Cortez, sister-in-law
of Chris Spina, a former city worker once fired for chauffeuring reputed
mob boss Joseph "the Clown" Lombardo on city time. Spina got his job
back and later retired. Paid more than $75,000 since it got into the
program 15 months ago.
*Cushing Transportation Inc. Owned by Anthony Pacella, Cushing
got into the program two years ago. Paid more than $100,000. Cushing was
suspended for unspecified "deficient records."
*Four Queens Inc. Owned by Arnold Anzaldua, the father-in-law
of Angelo Torres, a former gang member who ran the Hired Truck Program.
Torres was charged last month with shaking down a trucking company
owner. Paid more than $185,000 since joining the program in 2001.
*Fresno Transport Inc. This South Side company, owned by
sisters-in-law Patricia and Paula Bogolin, is the largest woman-owned
business in the Hired Truck Program, but city officials have questioned
whether it's actually run by Patricia's husband, Gary, who also has a
firm in the program. Paid more than $5 million since 1999.
*Gavin Construction Co. This Northwest Side firm was kicked
out of the program for a year in 2000 after owner John Gavin gave $100
to a clerk. Paid more than $485,000 since 2000.
*Get Plowed Inc. Owned by John Novak of Lemont, this firm is
under investigation for ties to a top official in City Clerk James
Laski's office. Laski got a campaign donation from Get Plowed last fall
listing as the company's address the home of his employee Michael
"Mick'' Jones. Paid more than $750,000 since 1999.
*Grace Brothers. Owned by Britta Woodall, whose crooked cop
husband, Jon, was sent to prison this month for stealing cocaine. They
allegedly concealed the ownership of the firm by keeping it in the name
of the cop's dead mother. Paid more than $275,000 since 1999.
*Ignoffo Trucking Co. Owned by Cyndi Ignoffo, it's one of the
largest woman-owned firms in the program. Paid more than $4.9 million
since 1999.
*Karen's Kartage. Owned by Lisa Humbert, wife of former
trucking magnate Fred Barbara, whom the feds have linked to organized
crime. Barbara, a nephew of the late mobbed-up Ald. Fred Roti (1st),
says his wife has turned the business over to his brother Bruno. Paid
more than $2.5 million since 1999.
*Jacz Transportation Co. Owned by Naomi Jane Baker, who is the
mother-in-law of Mark Gyrion, a cousin of the mayor. Daley fired Gyrion
this month from a top Water Management Department job after the
Sun-Times disclosed his ties to his mother-in-law's company. Paid nearly
$1 million since 1999.
*JMS Trucking Co. The owner of this firm, reputed mobster and
convicted loan shark James Inendino, is in prison after taking part in a
kickback scheme ripping off the Town of Cicero. Paid more than $3,000
since it got into the program 15 months ago.
*Josh Transport Co. Owned by Lorenzo Harmon, whose family has
three companies in the program. Paid more than $50,000 since it got into
the program 14 months ago. It is a certified minority-owned business.
*JPG Construction. Owned by John Gavin's son, JPG's business
grew while Gavin's company was suspended in 2000. Paid more than $1.3
million since joining the program in 2000.
*M&J Ground Maintenance. The business, owned by Maryann
Distasio, was suspended for "deficient records." Paid more than $1.7
million since 1999.
*Miffy Co. Inc. Owned by Mary Roti, another relative of the
late Ald. Fred Roti. No city or state records show that Miffy, a
certified woman-owned business, owns any trucks. She leased dump trucks
from a company owned by her father. Paid more than $3.9 million since
1999.
*NBM Trucking. Owned by Brian Martinez, this certified
minority-owned firm has been in the program since June 1998. Paid more
than $1.3 million since 1999.
*Olivet Transport Inc. Owned by Gary Bogolin, whose wife
co-owns Fresno. Olivet got in the program three years ago. Paid more
than $680,000.
*Pacella Trucking. The business, owned by William Pacella, got
into the program a year ago. Paid more than $36,000.
**Rasmussen Transportation. Owned by James Pacella, the
company got into the program two years ago. Paid more than $170,000.
*Rotondo Trucking Co. This Northwest Side firm, owned by
Salvatore Rotondo, has been in the program since at least 1996. Paid
more than $990,000 since 1999.
*Schadt's Inc. Owned by Carmen Schadt Gurgone, a sister-in-law
of a convicted burglar whom federal authorities have tied to organized
crime. She leases eight trucks from Michael Tadin, a trucking magnate
and political supporter of the mayor. Schadt and Tadin maintain that
those aren't the trucks that Schadt's, a certified woman-owned business,
leases to the city. Paid more than $1.4 million since 1999.
*W.B. Goldsby. Owned by Josephine Goldsby, the city has
certified the company as a female-owned, minority-owned business. The
firm has been in the program for decades. Paid more than $1.3 million
since 1999.
*Wilson & Steward Co. This company, owned by Jesse Steward,
was suspended amid allegations that a city official, Robert Ricciarelli,
was asked to fix a ticket the company received for an overweight load.
Ricciarelli was suspended, too, but he has denied fixing the ticket.
Paid more than $1.2 million since 1999.
*WMK Trucking Inc. Listed as being owned by Willie Mae Knight,
but the city has determined that she didn't really run the company,
which had been certified as a woman-owned and minority-owned business.
Knight's husband and son also have firms in the program, all operating
out of the same two-flat in Austin. Paid more than $900,000 since
joining the program in 2000.