State Sen. Emil Jones III has agreed to a deal with federal prosecutors that would avoid a retrial and see the three charges against him — including bribery, wire fraud and lying to the FBI — dropped a year from now.
Jones’ deferred prosecution agreement, revealed during a Thursday court hearing, requires him to pay a $6,800 fine and admit to making a false statement to FBI agents during a surprise 2019 interview at his home.
The Chicago Democrat, who’s served 16 years in Springfield since replacing his father, former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., was accused of agreeing to take bribes from red-light camera entrepreneur-turned-government cooperator Omar Maani in 2019.
In exchange, the feds alleged Jones held back legislation he’d introduced that was harmful to the red-light camera industry.
