In charges that had nothing to do with his public duties, former Illinois state representative James Phelan and a co-defendant were tried before a federal court jury in November 1999 on allegations of kicking back hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain business for their security services company.
The firm served as co-counsel to Mr. Phelan, and demonstrated at trial that the defendants were victims of extortion by the government’s key witness, who had pleaded guilty of receiving kickbacks in exchange for a reduced sentence. The jury acquitted Mr. Phelan and his co-defendant of all charges against them.