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Closing Arguments Expected Soon In Lawmaker Bribery Trial

ilga.gov

A federal judge says she expects attorneys to make their closing arguments in the bribery trial of an Illinois state representative Monday.

Prosecutors allege State Representative Derrick Smith took $7,000 in exchange for writing a letter of support for a grant application.

They put an FBI agent on the stand - who told jurors that after Smith was arrested - he took agents to his house and handed over some of the alleged bribe money that he kept in a cedar chest.

The agent says Smith told him that he did it “for the people.”

But Smith’s defense attorneys are trying to show a different picture of the situation.

They’re calling into question the relationship between the FBI and the informant who secretly recorded him and gave Smith the money…saying the informant was being pushed by the government to get them a good case.

Smith is a Chicago Democrat who lost in the primary earlier this year.

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