The Chicago Tribune reported Friday on James Duff's attempt to enter a guilty plea in the federal government's fraud case against a longtime associate and contributor to Mayor Richard J. Daley. Duff allegedly made his mother a company figurehead in a successful attempt to win $100 million in city affirmative action contracts as a minority or woman owned-business, when in fact he and his associates called the shots. The case is a major embarassment to the Daley administration given the mayor's apparent extensive contacts with the James Duff. One would think the mayor would know James Duff isn't a minority or female, and that awarding a contract to a business "run" by his mother would at the least stink of cronyism, no? Despite these facts, it's business as usual at City Hall, where the mayor's selective memory of such things has allowed him to say yet again, that he has no knowledge of any wrongdoing. The case took an even more interesting turn yesterday when the prosecution objected to Mr. Duff's guilty plea, arguing that the defendant didn't plead guilty to the actual charges against him, but a modified version of the charges possibly meant to allow him to challenge the plea at a later date.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/premium/printedition/Friday/chi-0501070273jan07,2,7783508.column?coll=chi-printnewsfriday-hed
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