The Most Corrupt States – Illinois is #47 – Is Patrick Fitzgerald Slacking Off?

Really.

Does that mean U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is slacking off.

Based on Federal convictions only the Daily Beast has come up with a list of the ten most corrupt states.

The Daily Beast has compared corruption in the fifty states, plus the District of Columbia.
Here’s what Clark Merrefield and Lauren Streib looked at:

  1. Public corruption, 1998—2008: Convictions of elected and other public officials investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Department of Justice.
  2. Racketeering and Extortion, 1998—2008: Code for organized crime convictions, also investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
  3. Forgery and Counterfeiting, 1999—2008: Arrest numbers for producing or distributing fake money and goods over a 10-year period, from the FBI.
  4. Fraud, 1999—2008: Arrests for false statements or documents produced for personal gain over a 10-year period, from the FBI.
  5. Embezzlement, 1999—2008: Arrests for surreptitious theft of money over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

The two did a lot of work.

Remember, the ranking is not about political corruption. It is more broad-based.

Of course, considering the lack of inclusion of local convictions—which would have been way to much work to discover—you’d think Illinois would have a higher corruption ranking.

Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his wife Patti appear on TV the day he was convicted of lying to the FBI.

How could Illinois be ranked as the the fourth cleanest state among the 50, plus the District of Columbia?

Talk about a new paradigm.

Here are the Illinois details:

  • Public Corruption: 16
  • Racketeering & Extortion: 18
  • Fraud Rank: 46
  • Forgery & Counterfeiting: 50
  • Embezzlement: 51

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