Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) spoke out about former State Sen. Thomas Cullerton (D-Bloomingdale), who was recently sentenced to one year in jail for embezzlement.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman noted that Cullerton "broke the trust of the people" when he took payments from Teamsters Joint Council 25 "while doing little or no work for the labor union," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The payments totaled over $250,000 and spanned nearly three years, from March 2013 to February 2016. They included $188,320 for salary as an organizer, cell phone, and vehicle allowances and $64,068 in pension and health payments from the union. 

"We have to hold every elected official to the highest ethical standards to end the culture of corruption that has thrived in Illinois for far too long," Batinick said in a Facebook post. "It's time to pass robust ethics reform and show Illinoisans we are serious about providing an honest, transparent state government."

Cullerton lamented what he deemed hate speech comments aimed at him online, ABC7 Chicago reported. 

"We've had far too many public officials appear in this court as felons," Gettleman said to Cullerton from the bench.

Cullerton is an Army veteran who represented the state Senate's 23rd district from 2013 until this year, according to a biography on the Illinois General Assembly website. He was honored as Legislator of the Year by the Illinois Association of Park Districts and Transform Illinois in 2016.