UPDATED: Ex-Ald. Troutman to be/was sentenced today

Tribune:

Former Ald. Arenda Troutman was sentenced to four years in prison today for mail and tax fraud.

Troutman admitted that for several years she had solicited cash from developers to back their projects in her South Side ward. The sentence was handed down after Troutman tearfully told the judge that she's not "a monster" as portrayed by prosecutors who said she accepted bribes and fraternized with gang members.

She asked for leniency so she could remain with her three sons.

"This society is real cruel to young black boys who don't have instruction and guidance," she said. "They'll get swallowed up in the belly of the beast."

U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo said he believed that Troutman is a good mother to her sons and a good daughter to her ailing mother but described her as "a walking contradiction."

He noted that Troutman had once worked with the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington but wouldn't be joining him in the local political Hall of Fame. "Instead you join the Hall of Shame of politicians who sold their offices," Castillo said.

A friend of mine who lives out of state remembers this quote from her people might remember her for it, unfortunately...

In another infamous quote that was caught on tape and later drew scorn from council colleagues, Troutman compared politics in Chicago to prostitution.

"Most aldermen, most politicians are hos," she said.

For many that may sum up their idea on politicians. Anyone else who may look forward to holding an elected office in the future should do well not to emulate that statement. That is unless, they want to find their way in a federal prison in the future.

Previous link and excerpt below

Tribune:

Former Ald. Arenda Troutman is scheduled to be sentenced today in federal court following her guilty plea in August to mail and tax fraud. Troutman admitted that for several years she had solicited cash from developers to back their projects in her South Side ward.

She likely faces 4 to 5 years in prison.

After she was charged with corruption in early 2007, Troutman, the alderman of the 20th Ward, defiantly denied wrongdoing and suggested she had been targeted for political reasons.

"Folk in my community understand there can be false allegations when there is someone who is the voice of the people," Troutman told the Tribune at the time. But in August a subdued Troutman admitted that prosecutors had been right after all and that for several years she had solicited cash from developers to back projects in her ward. 

Even named the judge who will preside over her sentencing US District Judge Ruben Castillo. The article also says that she's the 12th Chicago Alderman to have been convicted of wrongdoing in the last 20 years.