Former Crestwood Mayor Lou Presta's Sentencing Delayed, New Date Set

CRESTWOOD, IL — Sentencing for former Mayor Lou Presta was postponed Friday by the judge due to something that “came up at the last minute” and is likely to be rescheduled for the end of next week. The new sentencing date has been moved to April 25.

Presta was set to appear Friday before U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, where he was to learn his fate after pleading guilty in December to using a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery and official misconduct, and tax counts alleging he failed to file an income tax return and also willfully filed a false income tax return. Presta stepped down as mayor of Crestwood last fall.

In the government’s sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors stated that the former Crestwood mayor “cynically exploited” what supposed to be a public safety initiative when he was caught on camera accepting a $5,000 bribe from a former SafeSpeed LLC executive, the company that provided red light camera services to Crestwood. SafeSpeed has not been charged with wrongdoing.

According to the August 2020 indictment, as the company was trying to get the village to install a second red light camera in Crestwood, the then-mayor accepted a cash payment from former SafeSpeed executive Omar Maani, identified in the criminal indictment as "Individual A." Maani, has since been terminated from the red-light camera company, and was cooperating with the FBI.

In a recorded February 2018 phone call, Presta told Maani that red-light camera violations approved by the village had increased, stating that “You got a new sheriff in town,” according to the criminal complaint. A few weeks after the call, the feds maintain that Presta received a $5,000 cash bribe from Maani, a transaction that was caught on camera.

"Oh no, I'm glad nobody else is here," Presta was captured saying in the recording. "I can't even put it in the bank."

Later, in September 2019 when federal agents asked the “Lou Can Do” mayor about the $5,000, Presta countered that he had never asked for, nor received a cash payment for the installing the second camera. When he was shown the recording, Presta told federal agents that the envelope given to him was empty, the complaint said.

Presta also pleaded guilty to tax offenses, including failing to file tax returns and filing a false tax return. Stating that Presta needed to be used as a “deterrent” for other public officials tempted to commit similar crimes and in consideration of Presta’s lack of criminal background, federal prosecutors seeking a sentence between 24 and 30 months’ imprisonment within federal sentencing guidelines.

In the defense attorneys’ sentencing memorandum, they stated that Presta has “pleaded guilty because he is guilty and accepts responsibility for his conduct.”

“Mr. Presta appears before the court deeply remorseful and ashamed of his criminal conduct in this case,” one of Presta’s attorneys, Tom Breen, wrote in the memorandum. “Mr. Presta’s life, except for his actions in this case, is a shining example of a life committed to work, family, community and helping others.”

As for the tax offenses, while egregious, have no meaningful explanation, Presta’s attorneys said.

“There were times when Louis was in financial trouble, and other times when he was merely in denial of his obligations, neither are just excuses,” the memorandum said.

His attorneys further describe a Horatio Alger tale of the 71-year-old Presta born to Italian immigrants and building a successful newspaper distribution company from an after school paper route.

The memorandum also noted Presta’s declining health, including asthma, high cholesterol and diabetes, as well as recently being hospitalized with pneumonia.

Despite a federal indictment hanging over Presta’s head, Crestwood residents elected Presta to a third term as mayor in April 2021. Also included with the defense attorneys’ memorandum were 93 letters of support from Presta’s wife, his children, siblings, business owners, village employees, priests from area parishes, seniors, neighbors and members of the Pee Paw Lake condominium board in Coloma, Mich., where Presta has vacation home.

Each letter attests to Presta’s generosity, his heart of gold, charitable works and public service, putting the needs of family, friends and community ahead of his own and his “unique talent” for unifying divergent sides.

“He has repeatedly expressed his remorse and misgivings for having engaged in such a lapse in judgement,” one supporter wrote.

John Presta said that while he couldn’t speak firsthand to his brother’s actions that “led to all of this, but what I have read in newspapers and court documents … is not the Lou I know.”

Another friend asked the court to show compassion to 71-year-old former mayor and not impose jail time, “which may end up being a life sentence.”

Considering the “consequences” that Presta has already experienced from his actions, such as the loss of being mayor and the irreparable damage to his reputation, Presta’s attorneys asked the court to show leniency and consider probation.

“Given Louis’s history and character, the nature and circumstances of his offense, and his medical condition, a noncustodial sentence would be just punishment for Louis,” Breen wrote.