Feds: Bribes unlocked Park coffers
August 5, 2005
BY STEVE WARMBIR, ANDREW HERRMANN, NATASHA KORECKI AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters
When high-ranking Chicago Park District official Shirley McMayon oversaw acres of trees, lawns and gardens, she got her hands dirty -- with bribe money, federal prosecutors charged Thursday.
McMayon, 47, a horticulturist now living in Park City, Utah, allegedly received more than $120,000 in cash plus free vacations, computers and other goodies for steering about $8 million in Park District landscaping work to a Mundelein company, James Michael Inc. In all, more than $137,000 in cash and benefits went into her pocket from 2000 to 2002, prosecutors allege.
A substantial portion of the landscaping and lighting work was at the city's crown jewel, Millennium Park. But the company did work at other prominent spots, including Garfield, Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Marquette parks and Gold Star Memorial Park, which commemorates fallen officers. The company bedecked Buckingham Fountain with winter holiday lights. It no longer has Park District contracts.
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THE PAPER TRAIL
Michael Lowecki, owner of James Michael Inc., a landscaping company, allegedly showered Shirley McMayon, a top Chicago Park District official, with money and gifts as she helped him get $8 million in contracts. May 2000: McMayon gets two-night stay at Copa Cabana resort in Wisconsin Dells worth $432. July 7, 2000: McMayon gets two-night stay at Wisconsin Dells' Wilderness Lodge worth $676. July 25, 2000: McMayon gets $250 gift certificate to Mario Tricoci salon. Aug. 22, 2000: McMayon urges $800,000 in extra landscaping work for Lowecki and two other firms. Sept. 3, 2000: McMayon gets two-night stay at Galena's Eagle Ridge Inn worth $1,884. Oct. 27, 2000: McMayon's son gets a Gateway computer worth $1,976. Nov. 18, 2000: McMayon and son get one-night stay at resort in Elkhart Lake, Wis., worth $485. Dec. 13, 2000: McMayon urges a $5 million contract extension for three landscapers, including Lowecki. Dec. 20, 2000: McMayon gets $8,368. Dec. 22, 2000: McMayon and sons get five-day stay at Michigan's Big Powderhorn ski resort worth $970. Jan. 2, 2001: McMayon's $22,236 car loan is paid off by Lowecki. Jan. 8, 2001: McMayon gets computer worth $2,284. June 11, 2001: McMayon gets Lemond Buenos Aires bike, helmet and gloves worth $1,589. July 12, 2001: McMayon approves Lowecki's $10,041 bogus bill allegedly for a global positioning system the Park District never received. July 27, 2001: McMayon gets $5,000. Sept. 10, 2001: McMayon gets $26,000. Sept. 19, 2001: McMayon urges Lowecki and two other firms for park district holiday lighting contract. October 2001: McMayon arranged for Lowecki to get more than a third of the extra $5 million in landscaping. Oct. 31, 2001: Lowecki submits a $25,882 bogus bill to McMayon for landscape architect services. Nov. 21, 2001: McMayon gets $5,000. Dec. 17, 2001: McMayon gets $15,000. Jan. 9, 2002: McMayon urges Park District to give the 2002 landscape work to Lowecki and two other firms. Aug. 1, 2002: McMayon urges the Park District to spend an extra $800,000 on landscaping. September 2002: McMayon urges Park District to extend holiday light contract for Lowecki and two other firms. Sept. 23, 2002: Lowecki submits a $12,000 bogus bill to McMayon for professional development. Oct. 17, 2002: Lowecki submits a $14,160 bogus bill to McMayon for professional development. Nov. 29, 2002: McMayon gets $5,100 for rent. Dec. 3, 2002: McMayon's son gets $6,900. January 2003: McMayon urges one-year extension for Lowecki. SOURCE: U.S. attorney's indictment |
Chicago Park District Supt. Tim Mitchell, who started in January 2004, said Thursday internal changes make it harder to defraud the district.
"It's very disappointing, but it also angers me because there are a lot of good, hardworking people working six, seven days a week here," Mitchell said.
The landscape company's owner, Michael Lowecki, 45, of Libertyville, and its former controller, John Kevin Haas, 56, of Gurnee allegedly paid the bribes to McMayon, who once oversaw horticulture at some Las Vegas casinos.
Subsidizing the bribes were the taxpayers themselves.
The landscaping company allegedly covered about half the bribes by submitting phony invoices to the Park District for items it never delivered.
2 suspects cooperating
"The defendants in this case used the Park District's coffers as a personal playground," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
At times, Lowecki allegedly transferred money straight into McMayon's bank account.
"Some bribes are less subtle than others," Fitzgerald said.
McMayon is cooperating, and her case is expected to be resolved before trial, said her attorney, Donald Young. At one point during the investigation, she wore a wire, recording Lowecki on tape allegedly agreeing to continue the bribe payments.
Haas, represented by Michael Ettinger and Stephen Simonian, is cooperating, too, and is expected to plead guilty.
"My client has led a law-abiding life," Ettinger said. "He's a good man. He made a mistake."
Lowecki's attorney, Elliot Samuels, defended his client, saying he's hardworking and called Millennium Park a point of pride.
"He did an honest day's work," Samuels said.
Allegations of wrongdoing against the landscaping company came to light more than a year ago in a civil case. In that case, filed in Lake County in 2003, James Michael Inc. sued a former sales worker there for stealing money.
In a deposition in the case, conducted by Lowecki's own civil attorney, a James Michael employee admitted writing checks to McMayon, said attorney Jed Stone. Stone represents the former worker being sued.
"I think there's little question that the landscape company was involved in bizarre conduct," Stone said.
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