Judge Gets 12 Years in Corruption Case : Highest Jurist in Chicago Scandal Reportedly Was Paid $400,000

The highest-ranking judge convicted in the Operation Greylord investigation of corruption in the nation’s largest court system was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison despite a plea for leniency by his family.

Cook County Circuit Judge Richard LeFevour, 54, was automatically stripped of his $65,000-a-year position as presiding judge of the 1st Municipal District on sentencing by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle.

Plea Made by Wife

“He is not being sentenced because he is an evil man,” Norgle said after listening to LeFevour’s wife, Virginia, and his two sons ask for leniency. “He is being sentenced because a jury found he violated the law.

“Again and again and again, Richard LeFevour made a decision to break the law,” Norgle said. “A substantial sentence is necessary to deter others. A sentence other than jail would lessen the crime.”

LeFevour, who was convicted last month, faced a possible sentence of 300 years in prison and a $103,000 fine for his conviction on 59 counts of mail fraud, racketeering and income tax fraud. He accepted more than $400,000 in bribes to fix court cases, prosecutors said.

LeFevour, who did not testify at his trial and has refused to comment on his conviction pending the outcome of appeals, appeared sullen as his wife and two of his six sons spoke.

“Richard is a special man, a good man, an honest man,” his wife said. “His health is bad. I do not know how long he’ll have (to live). More than ever, he needs my love and the love of our children.”

‘Leader of Corruption’

But U.S. Atty. Candace Fabri portrayed a different type of man, calling him a “leader of corruption,” and urged the judge to impose a “very, very substantial” prison term.

“None of these children can blind you to the sins of their father,” Fabri said. “The love of his six sons doesn’t diminish the fact that a pervasive scheme of corruption was run by their father.”