Rockford Sun

State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) is using former state Rep. Luis Arroyo’s guilty plea on bribery charges to give his constituents a forum to speak out about corruption in Springfield.

“Former State Rep. Luis Arroyo pleaded guilty yesterday in a bribery scheme that could send him to prison for 20 years,” Keicher posted on Facebook. “Please take my survey and tell us what you think about ending corruption in Illinois.”

Arroyo entered his plea to a single count of “depriving the public of his honest services” in a U.S. District court in Chicago. The purported scam has also ensnared a now-former state senator and the son-in-law of a once-powerful Cook County politician.

By entering the so-called “blind plea,” the 67-year-old Arroyo could be sentenced to as much as two decades behind bars and be forced to pay up to a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 18.

Arroyo was formally hit with charges just over two-years ago after federal prosecutors announced he had paid a $2,500 bribe to an unnamed state senator who was wearing a recording device. Days later, the veteran lawmaker stepped down from the House seat he had held for well over a decade as well his leadership post.

In 2020, prosecutors moved to add wire and mail fraud charges against Arroyo as part of a follow-up indictment. At that time, similar charges were filed against James T. Weiss, the son-in-law of former Cook County Democratic leader Joseph Berrios.

The payments Weiss allegedly paid to Arroyo go back as far as 2018 and are said to have been in exchange for his support on legislation deemed to be favorable to his company.

Several media outlets have reported the now-former lawmaker Arroyo recruited to aid him in the scheme is Democrat Terry Link of Vernon Hills. Link recently pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.