Moreno, Medrano tell judge they can’t afford to pay for their legal defense
BY KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com August 1, 2012 12:54PM
Former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno leaves federal court after being charged with taking part in bribery schemes Thursday, June 28, 2012. | Rich Hein~Sun-Times
Updated: September 3, 2012 1:16PM
He was once the commodore of the Diversey Yacht Club — expensively suited, smooth-talking, the owner of a $1 million home in University Village. Now under federal indictment for corruption, former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno has fallen on such hard times that he can’t afford to pay for his own legal defense, his lawyer said in court Wednesday. Appearing alongside Moreno in federal court, his co-defendant, former Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, said he, too, is broke and needs the government to cover his legal fees. Both are accused of taking bribes and kickbacks to sell bandages to public hospitals including Stroger Hospital. Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow, each man entered a “not guilty” plea and asked for taxpayer help with his defense. “He’s underwater with respect to his home. . . . Based on the market, he’s going to have a difficult time selling it, let alone making payments,” Kling said. Denlow approved their requests for support from the federal defender program. According to federal prosecutors, Moreno and Medrano were promised cash for every bandage that Cook County purchased from Chasing Lions, a medical products distributor. Medrano was convicted in 1996 as part of the federal Operation Silver Shovel probe. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty in a second case, in which prosecutors say he and two businessmen used bribes and kickbacks to get business from out-of-state hospitals.
Both men remain free on bail.
