An indictment filed in June 2021 alleged the wives of Pedro and Margarito Flores helped stash away hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug money over a dozen years, starting with their husbands’ surrender in December 2008.
Armando Flores, now 53, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges alleging he helped collect millions in drug proceeds in Mexico and the U.S. after the brothers had agreed to cooperate with authorities.
The hearing was a year-and-a-half in the making, dealing with pretrial motions first filed in August 2020. Burke’s lawyers alleged then that prosecutors withheld crucial information from Chicago’s chief federal judge as they sought to eavesdrop on City Hall phone lines, as well as Burke’s cellphone.
A Cook County judge on Monday authorized the release of a report exploring the way Cook County prosecutors and Chicago police handled the Jussie Smollett matter.