Ex-state Sen. Sandoval faces bribery, tax evasion charges

SPRINGFIELD - Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval was formally charged in federal court Monday with bribery and tax fraud.

The indictment comes one day before lawmakers are set to return to Springfield for the 2020 legislative session.

Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat whose Statehouse offices were raided by federal agents in September, resigned from office in November.

His resignation took effect Jan. 1, and he has since been succeeded by former Rep. Celina Villanueva of Chicago.

In a two-page indictment released Monday, prosecutors said that between 2016 and 2019, Sandoval, then acting as a state senator and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, accepted money in exchange for continuing support for red light cameras in Illinois and opposing legislation "adverse to the interests of the red-light camera industry."

Red light cameras are devices installed at intersections that photograph and issue citations to people who fail to come to a complete stop at a red light.

The devices are operated by private companies on contract with local municipalities, and the companies typically share the revenue the devices generate.

The indictment also alleges Sandoval understated his income when he filed his federal tax returns for 2017.

He claimed $125,905 in total income that year, even though "the defendant knew that the total income substantially exceeded that amount," the indictment states.