CHICAGO (AP) — A former Chicago alderman has been sentenced to 13 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to spending cash from a political fund on vacations, jewelry and other personal expenses.
Before he sentenced Ricardo Munoz on Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Kness told the former six-term alderman that if he allowed him to avoid prison, the community “would draw the wrong message.”
Munoz pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and money laundering, admitting to stealing nearly $38,000 from the Progressive Reform Caucus, for which he served as chairman and performed the duties of its treasurer. Munoz retired from the City Council in 2018.
