[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] The Illinois state politician suspected of wearing a wire as part of a federal corruption investigation has resigned from a state ethics commission after he was charged with tax evasion.State Sen. Terry Link, D-Indian Creek, was indicted on federal tax evasion charges Thursday for taxes owed from 2016, according to a charging document filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
Link could not immediately be reached for comment.
"[Senate] President [Don] Harmon has accepted Senator Link’s resignation as a member of the Legislative Ethics Commission," said John Patterson, a spokesperson for Harmon.
Link filed a tax return for the calendar year 2016 that stated income of $264,450 even though he knew his total income substantially exceeded that amount, according to a one-page criminal information document filed in federal court.
Prosecutors often charge defendants using an information document if they expect a guilty plea.
Link last year denied he was the politician who wore a wire for federal prosecutors that led prosecutors to file bribery charges against former state Rep. Luis Arroyo in 2019.
"Stick in there, fight, do whatever, and so they're not mad at me," Link told news hounds asking about the wire last year. "I don’t represent you. I represent them. ... You know I’ve been around for a long time. I know how people like to twist my words."
Arroyo resigned after being charged.
A footnote in the charging documents against Arroyo identified the unnamed state senator who agreed to wear a wire as "Cooperating Witness 1." It also noted the senator had been working with the FBI until Nov. 3, 2016.
At that point, he was "closed as a source" because FBI agents learned he had filed false income tax returns.