Ex-county employee released from jail

Tony Cole, the former busboy at the center of a Cook County hiring controversy, was expected to leave Cook County Jail Monday after a judge lowered his bond. A spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said Cole would leave custody by 5:30 p.m. Monday. Cole had been held since April on charges that he violated an order of protection filed by his former girlfriend.

Cole, of Chicago, was working as a busboy when Cook County Board President Todd Stroger hired him to work as an aide to ex-Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings, Stroger's cousin.

While he worked for the county, Dunnings bailed him out of jail twice. Stroger fired Cole this spring, saying that Cole had lied about his criminal past on his job application. Stroger later forced Dunnings to resign her post.