Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who became a key player in the ongoing federal public corruption investigations after his offices were raided in 2019, has died, his attorney said Saturday.
Defense attorney Dylan Smith confirmed Sandoval’s death from COVID-19 based on his conversations with Sandoval’s family.
“I was proud to have represented Martin Sandoval,” Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He was someone of considerable ability who had done a great deal of good in his life and someone who was working very hard to make amends for his mistakes and, in his own way, doing what he could through his cooperation with the government to contribute to their efforts to clean up things in Springfield.
“And I know he was sincerely remorseful for having strayed from his own standards, and he was someone who loved his family tremendously, and right now they are in my thoughts and I would hope and ask the members of the press and the larger public to respect their privacy as they mourn at this time.”
Sandoval pleaded guilty in January to taking thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the red-light camera company SafeSpeed in exchange for blocking legislation that was unfavorable to it.
The powerful former state senator agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their ongoing corruption probe as part of his plea agreement. Just last week, prosecutors told a judge that Sandoval had “provided valuable cooperation that is expected to last at least several more months.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
