Former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak pleaded guilty Thursday to tax evasion in a scheme to help a lawyer foil the Internal Revenue Service.

Vrdolyak faces a possible two-year prison sentence. He admits helping a fellow lawyer avoid taxes on unreported income related to a multibillion-dollar settlement between Illinois and tobacco companies. 

The lawyer, Daniel Soso, has pleaded guilty.

In the 1980s, Vrdolyak was leader of a bloc of white aldermen who opposed Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor, at virtually every turn. It was called “Council Wars.”

The 81-year-old told a judge Thursday that he doesn’t practice law anymore but runs “papers around” at the office that bears his name. Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to fraud in 2008 in a kickback scheme.