CHICAGO, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Alderman Isaac "Ike" Carothers will resign from the Chicago City Council after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges Monday, his lawyers say.
The resignation is required by law. The plea deal would require him to spend 28 months in prison.
The Chicago Tribune said Carothers, 55, joins a long roster of crooked Chicago aldermen who have helped create the city's reputation for corruption.
Carothers pleaded guilty to accepting $40,000 in improvements to his own home in return for backing a developer's controversial project in his 29th Ward, the Tribune said. The alderman pleaded guilty to one count of not reporting the improvements on his income taxes and to one count of accepting items for backing the zoning change for the project.
The Tribune said the plea deal means prosecutors will drop four wire and mail fraud charges that carried stiffer penalties.
Under state law, Mayor Richard Daley will pick Carothers' replacement.
Carothers has been cooperating with federal authorities and working undercover, the Tribune said, and would be the government's star witness at two bribery trials.
