Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Chicago Tribune
by Annie Sweeney

Former Chicago Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, who is facing federal charges of public corruption for the second time, was released from custody Tuesday — but only after his wife pledged to act as his custodian and his mother-in-law posted her home as security.

The bribery charges leveled against Medrano came 16 years after he was sentenced for his role in another bribery scandal, Operation Silver Shovel.

Medrano is charged in two bribery schemes, including one with former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno. Moreno has been cooperating with authorities, sources have told the Tribune.

Moreno and Medrano are accused of seeking bribes in 2010, while Moreno was still a commissioner and Medrano worked on his staff, from a company seeking to supply bandages to Stroger Hospital.

Medrano also was accused in a second bribery plot last year in which a fictitious hospital official was paid to use a Nebraska company for the hospital's prescription drug services.

Medrano had been in custody since his first appearance on the charges Thursday. On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Young Kim accepted the conditions of release reached between Medrano's attorneys and prosecutors, which included his wife pledging to alert authorities if her husband violates conditions of the release and his mother-in-law posting her home. The conditions also included a $175,000 bond and that Medrano remain at home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.