Closing arguments in Weiss trial

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Closing arguments were set to begin Wednesday in the bribery trial of a politically connected Chicago businessman accused of arranging to pay off two state legislators.

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Closing arguments will begin after a lunch break, and then the jury of eight women and four men will begin deliberating the case. Prosecutors have alleged Weiss desperately wanted the state’s gambling expansion bill to include language explicitly legalizing sweepstakes machines, but it was left out of the proposal in the 2019 spring session. Weiss then agreed to pay monthly $2,500 bribes to get a deal done, first to Arroyo and later to Link, who was a chief sponsor of the gambling bill in the Senate, according to prosecutors.

The weeklong trial has been filled with political intrigue, both in the lineup of current and former elected officials who have testified as well as the backdrop of ongoing federal investigations swirling around Weiss’ associates, including the Cook County assessor’s office that Berrios once helmed.But references to Berrios have been largely kept out of the trial.

“My father-in-law interacted with Terry Link for 30 years, and told me, ‘ you’ to my face,” Weiss said on the recording. “I didn’t know what to do.” The testimony also focused on a parallel fight that went on at Chicago’s City Hall., where Arroyo was operating as a paid lobbyist for Weiss’ company regarding sweepstakes machine issues.

 

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