Federal Agents Raid Offices of Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval: Reports

Federal Agents Raid Offices of Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval: Reports
An FBI Police car is parked outside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Headquarters in Washington on Jan. 7, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
Zachary Stieber
Updated:

FBI agents raided the offices of Illinois state Sen. Martin Sandoval on Sept. 24, reports indicated.

FBI Special Agent John Althen told the Chicago Sun-Times that federal agents were at the state Capitol in Springfield for “authorized law enforcement activity” but declined to comment further.
A source told the Chicago Tribune that agents raided Sandoval’s offices in both Springfield and Cicero.

At least eight agents left the Senate Democratic offices with two boxes, two brown bags, and what appeared to be a computer.

At Sandoval’s house, a man who answered the door told the Tribune the Democratic senator was not home. Two officials later emerged from the house to get hand trucks to take inside and one said he was from the IRS criminal division.

Sandoval has not commented on the situation as of yet.

Sandoval is the latest ally of state House Speaker Mike Madigan, a Democrat, to be probed by federal agents. Alderman Edward Burke was indicted for racketeering earlier in the year, former Alderman Michael Zalewski hired a criminal defense law firm, and former Alderman Daniel Solis was working as a government mole after federal agents built a case against him, the Sun-Times reported. Additionally, Alderman Carrie Austin is the subject of a grand jury investigation.

An FBI building in Washington. (Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images)
An FBI building in Washington. Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images
Sandoval is the state senator who recently apologized for a mock assassination of President Donald Trump that was held at one of his fundraisers on Aug. 16.

At least one man pointed a fake gun at another person wearing a mask of the president. As the man pointed the gun, the person dressed as Trump held two hands to their heart as if fatally wounded.

It wasn’t clear whether the senator knew about the mock assassination before it occurred and Sandoval later said, “The incident that took place is unacceptable. I don’t condone violence toward the President or anyone else. I apologize that something like this happened at my event.”

Sandoval, 55, was born in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood and graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary South High School before going on to Loyola University Chicago where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, according to his state senate biography.

His life before becoming an elected official included stints at the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

He was elected to the state senate in 2003 and has been in office since. He has three children and a wife.

Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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