Ed Burke to be sentenced after corruption conviction: live updates

The longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history is expected to learn today how long he must serve in prison for his conviction last year on racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion charges.

Monday's sentencing of former Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) vows to end a legal drama that began more than five years ago when federal agents burst into Burke's offices, covered the windows with butcher paper and began to search for evidence of crimes.

Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall to sentence Burke to 10 years in prison. Defense attorneys for the longtime city councilman, who turned 80 in December, are asking the judge not to send him to prison at all, instead suggesting home confinement.

Burke's lawyers have flooded Kendall this month with letters of support from members of Burke's family, current and former government officials and members of the legal and law enforcement communities.

Burke represented Chicago's 14th District for 54 years and was the influential chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee.

He could now spend his retirement in federal prison. First, he must pass through security at the Dirksen federal courthouse — and behind a horde of media cameras in the lobby — before heading to Kendall's courtroom on the building's 25th floor.

It was there that in December, a jury found Burke guilty of 13 counts in a case consisting of schemes that revolved around the old Chicago post office, the Field Museum, a Burger King in the Burke neighborhood and Binny's liquor depot in the northwest side.

Burke tried to convince developers involved in the Old Post Office, Burger King and Binny's to do business with his private tax appeals law firm, Klafter & Burke. He also threatened the Field Museum when officials failed to respond to his recommendation regarding the daughter of ex-Ald. Terry Gabinski (32nd) for an internship.