State Rep. Thaddeus Jones under federal investigation involving campaign funds
Illinois state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, who doubles as the mayor of Calumet City, is under federal criminal investigation for tax issues involving his campaign funds, according to a law enforcement source and records obtained by the Tribune.
The U.S. attorney’s office issued a grand jury subpoena in January to the Illinois State Board of Elections seeking records on three campaign funds controlled by Jones, according to a copy of the subpoena provided to the Tribune via an open records request.
The subpoena, dated Jan. 7, was pursuant to an “official criminal investigation” and sought quarterly campaign reports dating back to 2015 for the funds “Jones for Mayor,” “Jones for State Representative,” and “Citizens for Jones,” which is a political action committee that Jones heads.
The grand jury asked for underlying data supporting the quarterly reports, as well as emails or other communications that election officials had with Jones or the funds, and “any and all complaints” filed against the committees, according to the subpoena. The FBI was the underlying investigative agency on the investigation, according to the document.
The law enforcement source told the Tribune that authorities are investigating tax issues stemming from the transfer of money between Jones and his campaign funds as well as other potential financial matters.
No charges have been filed.
A graduate of Bloom Trail High School with a degree in criminal justice from Loyola University Chicago, Jones is the latest member of the Illinois General Assembly to face a federal investigation.
The investigation comes to light as Jones, a Democrat from Calumet City who has represented the 29th legislative district since 2011, is running for reelection in a contested race in the June 28 primary. He was elected mayor of Calumet City last year and before that was the first Black alderman of the suburb’s 3rd Ward.
Jones, who was participating remotely Friday in the final day of the General Assembly’s spring session, said he had “no comment” in a statement sent to the Tribune on Friday.
Meanwhile, campaign records show Jones’ wife, Saprina Jones, resigned as chairperson of the Jones for Mayor committee less than two weeks ago, as did the committee’s treasurer, Daniella Drummond. Jones filed amended articles naming himself to both positions.
On Wednesday, Jones’ political action committee submitted a series of amended campaign committee statements for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, that contained “updated loan repayments” that were incorrectly reflected as expenditures instead of debts and removed “inadvertently reported” contributions. The changes, according to the filings, were “Per State Board of Elections notice.”
The election board on Thursday supplied the Tribune with copies of the hundreds of pages of records it sent to the U.S. attorney’s office in response to the January subpoena.
Among the documents were previously undisclosed details of a 2017 hearing on a complaint alleging Jones improperly reported tens of thousands of dollars in loans to and from his campaigns and spent political cash on personal expenditures.
The complaint, filed by Calumet City Aldermen DeAndre Tillman and James Patton, outlined a series of questionable expenditures by Jones’ campaigns, including outings to Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs games, and nearly $7,000 spent between 2014 and 2016 at a south suburban Hooters restaurant. Payments to the Jones Foundation, a charity Jones founded and is currently headed by his wife, were also illegally reported, according to the complaint.
The records show Jones was represented at the June 2017 hearing by high-powered Democratic election attorney Michael Kasper, who argued it was “not unusual” to spend that much money at the Hooters given that it was over 33 months and that the complainants’ characterization that it amounted to an “excessive number of visits” was a “subjective term.”
Following the hearing, the board ruled there was not enough evidence to support most of the allegations, the records show. Jones was not fined and was told instead to amend his campaign filings to come into compliance.
While the details of the 2017 hearing were kept private under state campaign rules, the Jones Foundation came under public scrutiny around the same time when an investigative report in The Daily Southtown detailed the charity’s inconsistent filing of financial documents, borrowing from Jones’ political campaign committee and unpermitted solicitation of donations.
Jones refused to comment for that story, though in a letter to the state attorney general’s office he defended the organization and threatened legal action against the Southtown reporter. Days later, he announced on social media that he was stepping down from his role on the charity’s board, though he did not explain why.
Over the past few years, two members of the House, Democrats Luis Arroyo and Edward Acevedo, both of Chicago, were recently convicted in separate cases, while another, Annazette Collins, also of Chicago, is awaiting trial on tax-related counts.
In the state Senate, former state Sen. Tom Cullerton, a Democrat who was also village president of Villa Park, resigned and pleaded guilty last month to ghost payrolling charges, while ex-Sen. Terry Link, a Democrat from Waukegan, and the late Democratic Sen. Martin Sandoval of Cicero were also forced out of office and later convicted of federal crimes.
Chicago Tribune’s Gregory Pratt contributed.
