Disgraced Ex-Lawmaker Dies Just Months Before Prison Sentence

Former Illinois lawmaker Jeff Tobolski has died just three months before he was set to begin a four-year prison sentence for taking a $250,000 bribe. Tobolski, 61, passed away Sunday morning after a series of serious health issues, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Tobolski served as mayor of southwest suburban McCook and as a Cook County commissioner, both positions in the Chicago area. He was scheduled to report to prison on January 16 for his 2020 federal corruption conviction, which stemmed from a web of bribery and extortion schemes.

In recent weeks, his attorneys had successfully delayed his surrender date, citing serious medical concerns. Tobolski had been hospitalized multiple times since early October for heart and lung complications, including atrial fibrillation, pneumonia, and a suspicious spot on his pancreas.

Tobolski first became McCook’s mayor in 2007 following his father’s death, and he was elected to the Cook County Board in 2010. His political career came to a dramatic end when FBI agents raided his home and McCook’s village hall in 2019. By August 2020, he was formally charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and filing false tax returns.

He pleaded guilty and cooperated with federal investigators, helping to build cases against his former chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, and McCook’s former police chief, Mario DePasquale. Doherty admitted to bribery and tax-evasion schemes and was sentenced to 51 months in prison, while DePasquale received a 27-month sentence.

Tobolski secretly recorded seven conversations over nearly three years to assist investigators. One extortion scheme involved a restaurant operating on McCook-owned property. In 2016, the restaurant owner sought permission to host alcohol-related events, and Tobolski, who also served as liquor commissioner, agreed to grant the approval in exchange for cash payments, delivered by a McCook police officer acting as a go-between.

In 2018 alone, Tobolski earned $279,668, including over $10,000 in bribes, but reported only $214,270 on his tax return. His false filings between 2012 and 2017 cost the IRS more than $56,000 and the Illinois Department of Revenue over $9,000.

During sentencing, Tobolski’s wife, Cathleen, and daughter, Emily, said politics had changed him, but he later apologized and worked to repair his relationship with his family.

Tobolski’s death comes at the very end of a long legal and political saga, closing the chapter on a career marked by public service, scandal, and criminal conviction.