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Former Chicago official sentenced to 30 months

A federal judge has sentenced former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez to 30 months in prison for rigging city hiring as part of a political patronage scheme.

In imposing the 30-month sentence Thursday, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said the 63-year-old Sanchez was a leader in a sham city hiring scheme, but Sanchez has never admitted wrongdoing.

Despite the sentence, Gettleman credited Sanchez for being a Vietnam veteran, for working tirelessly for the city and for serving as an advocate for minority groups.

A jury convicted Sanchez of mail fraud last July in his retrial for a scheme to steer city jobs and promotions to members of the Hispanic Democratic Organization.

The charges against Sanchez were the last from a federal investigation of Chicago's Hired Truck program.