Commissioner Beavers Faces Prosecutors During Trial Testimony

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Seen here with attorney, Sam Adam Jr., Commissioner William Beavers pleaded not guilty to four federal tax-related counts. His attorneys have argued that Beavers regarded much of the money from his campaign coffers as loans and that he eventually paid much of it back. AP Photo
Seen here with attorney, Sam Adam Jr., Commissioner William Beavers pleaded not guilty to four federal tax-related counts. His attorneys have argued that Beavers regarded much of the money from his campaign coffers as loans and that he eventually paid much of it back. AP Photo

Cook County Commissioner William Beavers, who was accused of not declaring money spent on gambling as income last year, sat on trial Friday as federal prosecutors laid out details against him that involved questionable accounting practices and gambling losses.

Prosecutors sought to prove Beavers diverted about $225,000 from his campaign funds and spent it for personal use -- primarily on gambling and without reporting much of it as income on his 2006-2008 federal tax return as required by law.

According to the Associated Press, Beavers cashed multiple four-figure checks from his campaign to himself and then gambled the money away on slot machines at a feverish pace -- sometimes within hours on a single day -- an Internal Revenue Service agent testified on Monday at the commissioner's trial.

Beavers showed no emotion on Friday as his defense team led by attorney Sam Adam Jr., listened as prosecutors presented their case against the 78-year-old, starting out with Andy Nauman of the Illinois State Board of Elections who discussed what candidates could use campaign funds for prior to and after the Campaign Disclosure rule change in 1998.

Prosecutors also questioned Beavers', 48-year-old, assistant, Vetrice Coleman, who was also treasurer of his three campaign committees, on the method used in filling out campaign contributions and expenditures reports.

Coleman said she has worked for Beavers for about 15 years including the time he served as 7th Ward Alderman on Chicago's south side. She admitted on the stand there were times Beavers would write a check and not tell her what it was for.

"If there was no receipt or purpose, I would put the check on the outstanding list," Coleman said in response to questions from the prosecution. "I would tell him I need a receipt or clearance before putting a check on the (disclosure) report."

Asked by the prosecution if there were times she would not receive an explanation for a check, Coleman replied yes.

Coleman testified that in the beginning she would write "void" on a cancelled check which meant the money from a check that Beavers wrote to himself had been paid back into campaign funds and so therefore she did not enter it into the campaign disclosure system.

She no longer uses that system she said, and now writes "reimbursed to the bank" on cancelled checks.

When prosecutors asked how Coleman knew a check was later reimbursed, she said Beavers would tell her or she would look through the bank statements. Coleman also admitted she did not include a reimbursed check on the disclosure reporting form because those checks were "awash", meaning they were accounted for.

Prosecutors scoffed at Coleman's response reminding her that she testified differently to a grand jury on the matter of voided checks saying that she didn't remember why she wrote "voided" on the cancelled checks.

As prosecutors, on Friday, seemed to make the case that Beavers' gambling habit was the reason for his misuse of campaign funds as casino records indicated Beavers lost $500,000 at slot machines from 2006 through 2008, prosecutors are not arguing that it was illegal for Beavers to spend campaign money on gambling -- only that he was required to declare the money as income.

Beavers, whose annual salary is $85,000 as a Cook County commissioner, lost $200,000 in 2006, $196,000 in 2007 and more than $80,000 in 2008 -- net loss figures that factor in his winnings from the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., said former casino employee Janet Guerrero, who testified on Friday.

Things didn't get any better for Beavers as the trial continued well into the afternoon as prosecutors called Richard Lewandowski, owner of Breaker Press, Inc., Chicago, testified that a couple of invoices presented by the prosecution as payment from Beaver's campaign literature were not his.

Beavers pleaded not guilty to four federal tax-related counts. His attorneys have argued that Beavers regarded much of the money from his campaign coffers as loans and that he eventually paid much of it back.

If convicted, Beavers faces a maximum three-year prison sentence on each count.

By Deborah Bayliss

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