SafeSpeed Exec Cops Plea In Oak Lawn Trustee Bribery Conspiracy

OAK LAWN, IL — The former partner of a red-light camera company accused of conspiring to bribe an unnamed Oak Lawn trustee is expected to cop a plea in exchange for bribery conspiracy charges filed against him to be dismissed.

Omar Maani, a partner in SafeSpeed LLC, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government last Friday, according to his attorney. The agreement to resolve the bribery charge calls for Maani to continue being a cooperating witness in various public corruption probes throughout the suburbs, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. He must also “show good conduct” for the next two years.

SafeSpeed provided municipalities with red-light cameras to catch motorists running red lights. In 2014, the Village of Oak Lawn entered into a contract to install cameras at two intersections. The red-light camera company would keep a portion of the revenue from the fines.

Maani is alleged to have schemed with Patrick Doherty to bribe an unnamed Oak Lawn trustee in order to install more SafeSpeed red-light cameras in the village. Doherty, the former chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, was indicted in February on three counts of bribery.

According to the federal complaint filed against Doherty, he was a sales agent, described by Safespeed as an "independent contractor," for the unnamed company in February 2014 that contracted with Oak Lawn to provide red-light cameras at two village intersections. Although the company was unnamed in the complaint, Oak Lawn trustees approved a contract with SafeSpeed that same month.

The Village of Oak Lawn parted ways with SafeSpeed when its contract with the company expired on Dec. 31, 2018. Unlike other municipalities where SafeSpeed had sole authority to determine if violations had occurred by reviewing video, Oak Lawn police would review video and make the final determination whether to issue red light tickets.

Doherty, a second unnamed sales agent and an unnamed co-owner of the red-light camera company — now identified as Maani — allegedly took part in a scheme to pay the Oak Lawn trustee’s “immediate family member” $4,000 or $500 per week during the summer of 2017. Doherty and his friends had hoped to influence the trustee to persuade fellow Oak Lawn Village Board members to install more red-light cameras throughout the village.

According to published reports, Maani wore a wire for the FBI as a cooperating witness. On May 30, 2017, Doherty called Maani on his cell phone to broach the idea of influencing the Oak Lawn trustee, federal prosecutors said.

Doherty allegedly told Maani that he was going to pay the Oak Lawn trustee’s family member “just on the chance of, uh, we can get the other ones in Oak Lawn and [Trustee 1] on our side.”

In another call placed to Maani a few days later, federal prosecutors said Doherty told him, “Look, I’ll put in a couple grand if I have to … If it guarantees us getting the other locations (to install red-light cameras) in Oak Lawn, and the new police chief, I’m sure I’ll get my money back,” the Sun-Times reported.

Doherty, who lives in Palos Heights, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His former boss, Tobolski, however, pleaded guilty last week to an extortion conspiracy and filing a false tax return. Tobolski is expected to cooperate with federal investigators as part of his agreement.

Maani's ownership interest in SafeSpeed was terminated this past February "for his alleged involvement in criminal activity." The red-light camera company claimed it had no knowledge of Maani's alleged payment of $70,000 in government funds to Illinois Sen. Martin Sandoval, who pleaded guilty to assorted federal corruption charges in exchange for his cooperation in the widening federal corruption probe.

The red light-camera scandal has also ensnared Crestwood Mayor Lou Presta, who was indicted on federal charges of using a facility interstate commerce in aid of bribery, filing a false tax return, failing to file a tax return, and making false statements to the FBI and IRS.

The Crestwood mayor is accused of lying to the FBI and IRS about taking an envelope containing $5,000 from a SafeSpeed representative when running in the March 2018 Democratic primary for the 6th District seat on the Cook County Board. The Crestwood mayor allegedly told federal investigators in September 2019 that the envelope was empty when confronted with a recording of himself accepting it.

Presta later amended his 2018 campaign disclosure statement, noting an in-kind campaign donation for $5,000 on March 13, 2018 from Omar Maani, then an executive with Safespeed, for “election day workers and expenses,” according to Illinois State Board of Election records. Presta denies the allegations.