04/22/2026
BROTHERS PLEAD GUILTY TO PAYING OFF OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL, MAYOR IN RED-LIGHT CAMERA SCHEME:
The stepsons of a deceased mob-connected business owner have pleaded guilty to participating in a red-light camera kickback scheme that funneled thousands in cash payments to the then-mayor of Oakbrook Terrace in exchange for a lucrative cut of ticket proceeds.
-James Colucci, 56, of Lisle, and Joseph Colucci, 51, of Mokena, each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Friday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, court records show. Sentencing guidelines call for up to about three years in prison for each defendant.
-U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold has not set a sentencing date. Attorneys for the brothers did not respond to messages seeking comment.
-The guilty pleas mark the latest — and perhaps the last — convictions stemming from a sweeping federal investigation into bribes and kickbacks involving red-light cameras installed by SafeSpeed LLC, which generates millions of dollars in fines from motorists each year in nearly two dozen Chicago suburbs
-The guilty pleas also scuttled a potentially fascinating trial that had been scheduled for later this year and would have featured the testimony of former Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci, who admitted to starting the kickback scheme with the Colucci brothers’ stepfather, Dennis Colucci, a onetime associate of notorious Outfit hit man Harry Aleman.
-Ragucci was expected to testify about accepting envelopes filled with cash from Dennis Colucci in his office and later from the brothers after lunch meetings at Chicago-area steakhouses like Gibsons, court records show.
-“Hi T … Are you still good at 1 @ Gibs?” Joseph Colucci texted Ragucci before one meeting at Gibsons in February 2019, court records show. After Ragucci responded, “Yes,” Colucci texted “Cool …. see you there.”
-Ragucci also met frequently with SafeSpeed co-founder Omar Maani, who began secretly cooperating with the FBI and recorded a July 2018 meeting where Ragucci asked for additional cash each time he re-upped the village’s contract with the camera company, according to a recent prosecution filing.
[Pictured: Red-light cameras at the intersection of Illinois 83 and 22nd Street, which is in Oakbrook Terrace and Oak Brook in 2017.]
LINK to read more
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/21/red-light-camera-scheme-brothers-guilty-plea/
