Ex-Dorothy Brown Aide Beena Patel Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison

CHICAGO — A federal judge sentenced a former top deputy of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown to two years in prison for lying to a federal grand jury investigating a bribes-for-jobs scheme in the clerk's office.

Beena Patel, 58, of Chicago, was convicted in April of making false declarations before a grand jury and sentenced at a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis. Federal prosecutors argued her lies hindered the FBI's ability to file criminal charges against her boss.

Patel, prosecutors argued in a sentencing memo, "successfully threw a wrench in the wheels of justice and ground them to a halt." In the defense's sentencing memo, her attorney pointed out the longtime public employee already lost her pension due to the felony conviction and expressed her fear that the sentencing hearing would "turn into a comment on public corruption."

Evidence at trial showed Patel and other employees had sold tickets to a fundraiser on Brown's behalf but she denied it under oath before a grand jury in October 2015, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Patel also lied about conversations with Sivasubramani Rajaram, an employee who said he gave $15,000 to Goat Masters Corporation, a company controlled by Brown's husband, in exchange for a job in the clerk's office. Jurors found she also lied about her communication with Brown's chief of staff about a promotion for an employee whose brother had donated $10,000 to the clerk's campaign funds.

"Defendant not only had answers to the questions the grand jury was asking, but had information that went to the very heart of its investigation," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather McShain and Ankur Srivastava said, recommending a 30-month sentence in the prosecution's sentencing memo. "Witnesses who lie during the course of a grand jury investigation not only violate their solemn oath to tell the truth, but also impede the grand jury’s ability to gather evidence."

Patel's attorney had asked for a sentence of probation, citing her age and the fact her felony conviction had already cost her a roughly $87,500-a-year pension.

Related:
Aide's Lies Thwarted Dorothy Brown Bribery Probe: Prosecutors
Dorothy Brown Decides Not To Run For Re-Election To 5th Term
$10,000 Buys A Job In Clerk Dorothy Brown's Office: Court Filing
Ex-Cook County Clerk Employee Sentenced For Lying To Feds

"I am a liar, I can't take that back," Patel told the judge during her sentencing hearing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. "I have challenged myself to be a better person."

Ellis said it was clear after presiding over Patel's trial that "there is something funny happening in the clerk's office," the Chicago Tribune reported. The judge noted Brown was nowhere to be found at her former aide's sentencing: "For some reason you made the decision to lie and protect her," Ellis told Patel, according to the Tribune. "And she's not here to help you when you need help."

Brown won reelection to a fifth term in office in 2016 despite the Cook County Democratic Party's withdrawal of its endorsement amid the federal investigation into allegations of corruption in her office.

Last year, she launched a campaign for mayor prior to Rahm Emanuel's announcement he would not run for re-election. Brown was kept off the ballot by a challenge from the eventual runner-up, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who entered the race after Emanuel's announcement. In August, Brown, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, announced she will not seek another term as clerk.

"I think it's a tragedy," Brown told WGN in a statement, "and I really have nothing to say."