Cook County insider found dead in Michigan

Chicago powerbroker Orlando Jones was found dead in Michigan this week from a gunshot wound to his head, officials said Thursday.

Jones recently had attracted the attention of authorities in two criminal investigations -- one involving hospital fraud in Las Vegas, where police had recently recommended to prosecutors he be indicted.

Jones also was closely tied to Antonin "Tony" Rezko, currently under indictment in two federal criminal cases.

In addition to local police, FBI investigators were on the scene in Michigan where Jones' body was found along with a handgun, Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit said.

Heit said an official cause of death had not been determined Thursday, but preliminary indications leaned toward suicide.

"Everything at this point appears to be that it was self-inflicted," Heit said.

Jones, the godson of former Cook County Board President John Stroger, was seen as recently as Tuesday afternoon, when he had lunch with friend and attorney Bob Stephenson, who said he and Jones drove from Stephenson's home in Barrington Hills to Village Squire in West Dundee and chatted over popcorn and iced tea.

Stephenson said he was informally advising Jones on the Las Vegas case, and the two had been discussing documents they were putting together to send to district attorneys in Las Vegas in an attempt to persuade them police had done a shoddy investigation there.

"This case in Las Vegas is a joke," Stephenson said Thursday.

The two also kibitzed about childhood experiences and their mothers, Stephenson said. Jones gave no indication he was considering suicide.

"Absolutely none," Stephenson said.

Stephenson said tollway I-PASS records showed Jones then headed toward Chicago through the Elgin toll plaza on I-90 at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, about 9 a.m., Jones' family called Stephenson looking for him. Jones had mentioned to his wife that he was going to visit a new casino in New Buffalo, Mich., and Stephenson surmised Jones may have been too tired to drive back and stayed in a hotel.

Stephenson encouraged the family to keep trying Jones' cell phone and to wait a little longer before filing a missing person report. When Jones hadn't turned up by noon, however, he told them to file a report.

They did so, reporting him missing Wednesday at 1:45 p.m., said Chicago police spokesman Marcel Bright said.

Jones' body was found about 6 p.m. Wednesday at the foot of steps leading from the Gowdy Shores homeowners association to the beach, Heit said. The development is in Union Pier, Mich., and Jones owned a vacant lot in the development. His Lexus was found on that lot, Heit said. Heit did not know how long the body had been there.

Dr. Stephen Cole in Grand Rapids, Mich., was scheduled to perform an autopsy Thursday afternoon, Heit said.

Stephenson said the family later found a note from Jones in a desk drawer, indicating his planned to kill himself. He asked that Stephenson continue to try to clear his name in Las Vegas, and that business client William Blair handle his investments for his family.

"I was advised of the note later in the day Tuesday," Stephenson said.

Todd Stroger, the son of John Stroger and the current Cook County board president, extended his condolences to the Jones family in a prepared statement.

"The Stroger family is saddened by the passing of Orlando Jones … our prayers go out to his wife, Cerrelda, and his two sons," the prepared statement said.

Stephenson said Jones had not been the focus of any investigation other than the Las Vegas case. While Jones had been questioned by the U.S. attorney in relation to the Rezko investigation, it was to ask Jones if the William Blair firm had ever been shaken down by Stuart Levine.

Levine, a former trustee of the state's teachers pension fund, has pleaded guilty to shaking down investment firms. The Blair firm has a large investment from another state board, the Illinois State Board of Investment, which oversees retirement funds for state employees, lawmakers and judges.

Stephenson said Jones never went before a grand jury in that case.