As planned, indicted Ald. Carrie Austin retires from City Council after election
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) retired Wednesday morning – a day after the elections for mayor and City Council.
Austin is under indictment on federal bribery charges. Both prosecutors and her own attorneys had indicated that she would be resigning at the beginning of March.
Austin and her chief of staff, Chester Wilson Jr., were indicted in 2021 on federal charges accusing them of taking bribes from a construction company seeking Austin's support for a development in her ward. Both have pleaded not guilty.
In November, Austin's attorneys asked that she be declared medically unfit to stand trial due to a number of chronic health problems. Federal prosecutors argued against the motion, claiming she had failed to meet the "bare minimum" of proof to support her claim.
Austin is the second longest-serving member of the City Council, having represented the 34th Ward on the Far South Side since 1994, when she took over for her late husband, Lemuel Austin, who died of a heart attack.
The 34th Ward was moved across the city in the most recent ward remap. It now includes parts of the Loop, West Loop, Fulton Market, and Greektown,
While Austin has announced that she will resign from the City Council due to her medical condition, prosecutors noted she does not plan to step down until March, after the upcoming city elections, and since asking to be declared unfit to stand trial, has attended multiple hours-long City Council and committee meetings.
Navy veteran and former Cook County prosecutor Bill Conway prevailed over real estate broker Jim Ascot in the race for alderman of the relocated 34th Ward.
