Brothers admit to scheme costing thousands in Oakbrook Terrace red-light camera corruption case

Two suburban brothers admitted to crimes related to bribing a former mayor of Oakbrook Terrace over red-light camera services in federal court last week.

Indicted in 2022, James Colucci, 56, of Lisle and Joseph Colucci, 51, of Mokena pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States Friday.

The charges could result in a range of 30 to 37 months in prison at sentencing, authorities said.

The plea deal comes at the tail end of a wide-sweeping federal investigation into red-light camera corruption in Illinois.

The scandal resulted in former Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci resigning and pleading guilty to fraud and tax crimes, and brought down powerful state Sen. Martin Sandoval. The Cicero Democrat, who chaired the Senate Transportation Committee, pleaded guilty to bribery charges and died in 2020.

Federal prosecutors said the Coluccis ran DSC Enterprises, which acted as a sales representative for Oakbrook Terrace’s red-light camera vendor SafeSpeed LLC. DSC received a commission worth 14% of revenues from the village’s camera contract.

The brothers coordinated cash payments to Ragucci totaling between $6,200 and $7,000 every other month from January 2018 to September 2019. The understanding was that the former mayor would enable camera contract renewals in exchange for the kickbacks, which amounted to about $62,000 over the time period, according to the plea deal.

The payoffs had originated with the Coluccis’ father, who died in January 2018, authorities noted.

Officials with SafeSpeed, which has changed its name to AllTech Tracking LLC, have previously said the company had no knowledge of any illegal activities and did not provide any money for bribes.