Riverdale Mayor’s Bracken Ties End in Prison Term

Former Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson received a six-month prison sentence Thursday for lying under oath about financial ties to landfill owner James Bracken, whose businesses worked with the village. Jackson’s conviction followed testimony about municipal contracts, a private trucking company and a relationship prosecutors said he hid during a civil deposition.

Public office and private ties

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said Jackson had led an otherwise exemplary life, but described his sworn statements as a serious violation of the duties that come with public office. Jackson had worked as a Cook County corrections officer before becoming mayor on a promise to improve Riverdale’s finances.

“Public officials are expected to be honest with how they approach the judicial process,” Gettleman said. “(Jackson) was a public official, he was involved with people doing business with the city and he violated the oath that he took ... It's very serious.”

Prosecutors asked for a longer sentence. Gettleman said probation wasn’t warranted, adding that elected officials must hear that lying carries consequences, especially when they act in an official capacity. “Obviously in this courthouse we have seen a lot of disappointing results on that,” he said.

A jury found Jackson guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice in November. The convictions prompted him to resign as mayor and give up his publicly funded pension. He declined to speak at sentencing, and his lawyer read a statement saying Jackson “is not able to stand before the court and admit that he violated the law.” Jackson showed no outward reaction. After spending more than two hours with his wife at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, he left without comment.

The case stemmed from Jackson’s 2021 deposition in a civil lawsuit Tri-State Disposal filed. The company claimed Jackson favored Riverdale Materials, owned by Bracken, including by dismissing the chair of the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals and replacing the chair with “persons politically connected to the mayor.” Judge Sara Ellis later found no sufficient evidence that Tri-State faced political retribution, and the company lost the lawsuit.

Contracts, company records and campaign money

Prosecutors said Jackson asked Bracken to help find a new waste company after deciding to replace a contractor. Bracken connected him with Flood Brothers, which the village hired for a spring cleanup event in May 2018, even though Tri-State already had a duty to do the work. Jackson denied in his deposition that he helped hire Flood Brothers and said village administrator Tim Williams had introduced him to the company. Prosecutors said both statements were lies.

Trial testimony also showed Bracken took a major role in Centennial Holdings, a trucking company Jackson and his wife incorporated in 2018. Texts and emails shown to the jury indicated Bracken managed nearly every daily task, from payroll and insurance to timesheets and truck assignments. Prosecutors said Jackson lied about the company’s records and truck leasing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirsten Moran said Bracken found a job for Jackson’s wife at Morris Dirt and paid Jackson despite his doing little work. In a sentencing filing, she wrote: “Defendant's only role in the company was to pick up a paycheck once a week and pay the truck drivers. Bracken ran defendant's business—for free—and gave defendant a paycheck for effectively no work.”

State campaign records show companies linked to James and Kelly Bracken gave more than $30,000 to Jackson’s campaign fund from 2016 to 2021. The contributions included an $8,177 in-kind donation for Jackson’s 2019 golf outing. Bracken hasn’t faced charges of wrongdoing. Jackson’s attorneys said he wouldn’t tell the FBI that Bracken had bribed him because, they said, it wasn’t true.

A village still under financial strain

Jackson also faced charges for failing to file federal income tax returns for three years. Prosecutors dropped those counts after Thursday’s sentencing. His attorneys said he had assisted the FBI in other Riverdale corruption investigations.

Riverdale has about 13,000 residents and has struggled with budget problems and corruption allegations. Fitch Ratings lowered the village’s financial picture to CCC in its most recent report in April, citing “a severely weakened financial profile, including a negative balance of available general fund reserves, and very limited liquidity.” Jackson had previously told the Daily Southtown that his administration renegotiated contracts, restructured debt and set Riverdale on a path to solvency. The village’s financial problems continued.