Bianchi's Attorney Alleges Special Prosecutors Withheld Vital Information

An evidentiary hearing on June 24 uncovered information favorable to County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s defense. 

The new information may be significant to at least two of the three official misconduct charges Bianchi faces alleging he attempted to drop or lessen penalties in criminal cases. 

Winnebago County Judge Joseph McGraw held the evidentiary hearing in Rockford after Bianchi’s attorneys grew frustrated over Special Prosecutors Thomas McQueen and Henry Tonigan’s apparent failure to provide all information to the defense as required by law in a timely manner.

McGraw is overseeing Bianchi's case to avoid conflict with McHenry County's State’s Attorney’s Office.

“For months we kept asking for evidence, but it was coming in slowly or not at all,” said Tracy Stanker, one of Bianchi’s attorneys. 

During the hearing, four of the prosecution’s investigators were called to testify how and when they received information and what they did with it. 

As a result of the examination, the defense obtained new documentation from Investigator Patrick Hanretty—one page of notes taken during an interview with Sue Serdar of the Pro-Life Victory PAC. 

Bianchi is accused of accepting the donation on the condition he drop a case against Tom Salvi, a politically-connected Crystal Lake physician. 

The notes submitted by the investigator stated Serdar had no knowledge of contributions being made under those conditions and lends support to her affidavit stating there was no connection between the contribution and Salvi’s case. 

Testimony by another investigator, Robert Scigalski, touched on another misconduct charge–that Bianchi negotiated less prison time on a drug charge for a supposed nephew of the department’s chief investigator, Ron Salgado. 

Scigalski told the court that during his interview with Criminal Division Chief Phil Hiscock, McQueen was witness to Hiscock’s statement that neither Bianchi nor Salgado influenced his decision to reduce the “nephew’s” penalty from five to four years. 

Salgado had also been charged with official misconduct in this regard, but his case was dismissed earlier this month. 

The third charge against Bianchi is that he sought a bond reduction for a relative and delayed the case until a First Offender Program was initiated by his office. 

McQueen told the court that he had complied with evidentiary rules by requesting investigators turn over all reports to him and that he in turn provided it to the defense. 

McGraw said he’d make a determination if prosecutors broke the rules about evidence sharing based on that day’s events. 

Bianchi’s attorney, Terry Ekl, blasted special prosecutors after the hearing for not following legal requirements that all information is to be shared with the defense. 

He believed prosecutors purposely withheld the information from the defense and that legal action against them would follow. 

“Today it was proven misconduct occurred on the other side,” he said. 

In March, Bianchi was acquitted of charges he had county employees perform campaign work on the county’s dime.