Grand Jury Charges Former Illinois State and Chicago Official With Bribery

A new indictment expands to Chicago's ex-deputy aviation commissioner

The Illinois construction-related corruption scandal keeps growing.

Bill Helm, 56, a former deputy commissioner of the Chicago Dept. of Aviation and a former Illinois Dept. of Transportation official, was indicted on one count of federal program bribery March 6. He will be arraigned in federal court in Chicago on March 20.

According to the indictment, a construction company in 2018 retained Helm to assist in obtaining approval from the Illinois Dept. of Transportation for signal and roadwork in connection with the unnamed company’s development project in East Dundee, Ill.

The company sought approval from IDOT in 2017, the indictment states. From July 2018 to at least Nov. 2018, Helm offered and agreed to pay money to influence and reward State Senator Martin Sandoval, who has since pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in another case, in connection with IDOT approval of the project, the indictment states. At the time, the indictment states, Sandoval was chairman of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee and was in a position to assist with obtaining such approvals.

ENR Midwest Editor and Associate Technology Editor Jeff Yoders has been writing about design and construction innovations for 16 years. He is a two-time Jesse H. Neal award winner and multiple ASBPE winner for his tech coverage. Jeff previously launched Building Design + Construction's building information modeling blog and wrote a geographic information systems column at CE News. He also wrote about materials prices, construction procurement and estimation for MetalMiner.com. He lives in Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, where the pace of innovation never leaves him without a story to chase.