Ed Vrdolyak to be Re-Sentenced

Ed Vrdolyak to be Re-Sentenced
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Vrdolyak
Ed Vrdolyak to be Re-Sentenced
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Vrdolyak

Ed Vrdolyak to be Re-Sentenced

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Former Chicago Alderman Ed Vrdolyak will be re-sentenced. That’s after a panel of federal judges ruled probation is not enough of a punishment for his crime.

Ed Vrdolyak is now likely to face prison time. He avoided it last year when federal Judge Milton Shadur sentenced him to five years probation. The former alderman pleaded guilty to getting a kickback from a real estate deal, which happened after his time as alderman.

At the time of the sentencing, Judge Shadur said there was a difference between Vrdolyak’s public persona as “Fast Eddie,” the political boss, versus his private life.

But in a rare move, prosecutors appealed the judge’s sentence and today, two of the three appeals court judges disagreed with Shadur’s ruling, calling it a slap on the wrist. They say the penalty was so light, there was a chance Vrdolyak would repeat the crime.