Former Ald. CarrieAustin is now receiving more than $9,500 per month in pension payments for the rest of her life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. If Austin is convicted, she could lose her pension, since her conduct occurred as part of her official duties as an alderperson.
Ald. Carrie Austin, 73, who did not seek a seventh term on the Chicago City Council, stepped down the day after Chicago voters went to the polls to pick a new mayor and City Council.
Surveillance conducted by FBI agents in recent weeks shows Austin is “not gravely ill,” but has a busy schedule and is “alert, lucid and responsive” and able to move about on her own without assistance, according to court records.
Ald. Ray Lopez drops out of the mayoral race, but not before launching another stinging attack on incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.
Indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) told a federal judge on Friday that she is too ill to stand trial. She also informed Mayor Lori Lightfoot she plans to retire from the Chicago City Council on March 1 one day after the next Chicago City Council election. Austin, 73, pleaded not guilty to charges that she accepted bribes from a developer and lied to FBI agents. Indicted