State Sen. Emil Jones III bribery trial set to begin 2 ˝ years after
indictment
[April 08, 2025]
By Hannah Meisel
CHICAGO – Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday morning in the
federal corruption trial of state Sen. Emil Jones III, D-Chicago, who
stands accused of accepting alleged bribes from a red-light camera
company executive whose cooperation with the feds has also brought down
several other Chicago-area politicians.
Jones, the son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., has
remained in office since his September 2022 indictment on three counts
including bribery and lying to the FBI, even winning another four-year
term in an unopposed race six weeks after being charged.
Jones has remained stripped of his previous leadership and committee
chair roles for the last 2 ˝ years. Jones has not been in Springfield
for any legislative session days since lawmakers’ early January lame
duck session and subsequent inauguration events.
If convicted, Jones would be forced to give up his seat in the
legislature.
The trial, which is expected to be short, will finally shed more light
on a federal corruption probe that went public in the fall of 2019, just
as a concurrent investigation into then-Illinois House Speaker Michael
Madigan’s inner circle began heating up. The trial will mark the first
and likely only airing of secret recordings of Jones’ former colleague
state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, who began cooperating with the
FBI after the feds raided his offices in dramatic fashion in September
2019 but died a little over a year later.
More than five years later, Madigan was convicted in a split verdict
earlier this year in a case that turned out to be totally separate from
Sandoval and the red-light camera industry. But Jones’ trial will be the
first red-light camera-related case to go before a jury as others —
including Sandoval — pleaded guilty.
‘You can raise me five grand’
Jones’ alleged criminal acts stretch back to 2019, after Jones filed
legislation calling for the Illinois Department of Transportation to
“conduct a study evaluating automated traffic law enforcement systems,”
like red-light and speed cameras. It would have required IDOT to consult
with local law enforcement and file a report on “operation, usage,
permit process, and regulation” of red-light and speed camera systems
already in use in Illinois, and make recommendations to further regulate
the industry.
After the bill’s introduction in February 2019, it received zero
hearings throughout the General Assembly’s spring legislative session.
But after lawmakers left Springfield for the summer, Jones had dinner
with Omar Maani, the co-founder of Chicago-based red-light camera
company SafeSpeed LLC, a top red-light camera vendor in the Chicago
area. During their July 17, 2019 dinner, Maani “expressed concern about
the potential impact” of Jones’ legislation, according to court
documents filed by prosecutors in February.
After expressing his concerns about Jones’ bill, Maani then asked the
senator about fundraising for him.
“You can raise me five grand,” Jones allegedly responded. “That’d be
good.”
Later during dinner, Maani asked Jones if there was a “creative way” to
make the payment in order to avoid having to report it.
But Jones was more interested in Maani finding work for a college
student.
“Most importantly, I have an intern working in my office … and I’m
trying to find him another job, part-time job, while he’s in school,”
the senator told Maani.
Toward the end of their dinner, Jones asked what Maani wanted him to do
about his red-light camera study bill. Maani told him that he’d like to
see an amendment to limit the study to only Chicago, instead of the
entire state.
Maani then added that he was worried that a lawmaker — whom the feds
have only referred to as “State Representative A” in court documents —
would “try to use the study results to cast the red-light-camera
industry in a negative light,” according to the government’s February
filing.
“I got you,” Jones allegedly told Maani. “And I’ll protect you from
[State Representative A].”
$1,800 for no ‘real work’
The next week, Jones sent Maani his intern’s resume, saying he “had a
great time at dinner” and was “looking forward to many more good times.”
The same day, Jones texted the intern.
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State Sen. Emil Jones III speaks with reporters outside of the
Illinois Senate chamber in January 2020. (Capitol News Illinois file
photo)
“LMAO, (Omar Maani) trying to make sure I don’t file my red light camera
bill anymore,” the senator allegedly wrote. “He thinks [dinner] will do
it.”
A few weeks later, Jones and Maani met up for another dinner in which
they discussed the particulars of the $5,000 payment and work for the
senator’s intern.
Maani reiterated that he needed to “conceal” the payment to Jones, to
which the senator allegedly responded, “I feel you.” He recommended
Maani sponsor an event for him, assuring Maani that the payment wouldn’t
need to be recorded on campaign contribution reports filed with the
state.
Jones allegedly recommended the intern be paid $15 an hour, and the two
agreed that the intern would work 20 hours per week directly for Maani
instead of SafeSpeed “in order to keep the relationship between
defendant and (the intern) secret,” according to the government.
Four days later, Maani called Jones to tell him that he didn’t have “any
real work right now” for the intern but would still pay him “obviously
for you helping me out with all this stuff with the bill and [State
Representative A],” according to prosecutors’ February filing.
The payments to the intern came to an abrupt end when Jones was
interviewed by FBI agents on Sept. 24, 2019. The senator allegedly lied
to the feds and claimed he had not discussed with Maani either how to
conceal the $5,000 payment or how much the intern would be paid. Jones
also allegedly denied having agreed to protect SafeSpeed from
legislation that could negatively affect the company in exchange for
Maani hiring the intern.
On that same day, FBI agents publicly raided Sandoval’s Capitol office,
district office and home. The FBI also searched the offices of other
local elected officials in Chicago’s southwest suburbs that same day,
which led to a handful of bribery convictions related to SafeSpeed. The
company changed its name to AllTech Tracking in 2023 and sued Maani for
reputational harm to its business.
Red-light camera fallout
During lawmakers’ fall veto session in 2019 – as Springfield was reeling
from still-unfolding federal corruption probes that not only touched
Madigan and his inner circle but also nabbed two other sitting lawmakers
for an unrelated episode of bribery and another senator for embezzlement
– Jones’ bill finally received a hearing in the Senate.
By then, seven Republicans had signed onto the legislation as
co-sponsors in a push for ethics reform in reaction to the September
raids. It passed out of the Senate Transportation committee on a 16-0
vote, including Jones, though It would be another nearly three years
until the senator’s alleged red-light camera bribes were revealed in his
indictment.
The bill never received a vote on the full Senate floor and died without
another hearing.
Sandoval, who had been recently forced out of his powerful chairmanship
role on the transportation committee, would eventually plead guilty to
having taken bribes from Maani dating back to 2016.
But months after Sandoval’s cooperation with the government was
interrupted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the senator died from
COVID-related complications in late 2020, and his case died with him.
Maani, whose cooperation with the government passed the seven-year mark
in January, is expected to testify in Jones’ trial. He’s still operating
under a deferred prosecution agreement he entered into with the
government in 2020, which could see the bribery conspiracy charges
against him dismissed.
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