Kenneth Getty was convicted of rigging construction bids while mayor of west suburban Lyons.
Now he can weigh in on Lyons' development from his new seat on the town's planning and zoning board.
Kenneth Getty, 70, was recently appointed to the board by his 28-year-old son, Christopher Getty — who was elected mayor with his father's help.
Kenneth Getty said the town's attorney told village trustees that no law prevents a convicted felon from serving on the board. And he maintains that the jury who convicted him got it all wrong.
"I was totally innocent all the way through," he said.
The appointment is another step in Kenneth Getty's re-emergence as a political player in town.
After being released from prison in 2004, Kenneth Getty told a local newspaper that he would seek revenge on the political foes he blamed for the federal investigation into his brief tenure as mayor in the 1990s.
In 2009, his son defeated Kenneth Getty's former political rival, David Visk, in a three-way race for mayor. Kenneth Getty said he is active in the community, even running a local senior citizen club.
"I still do all kinds of things in town," Kenneth Getty said.
Kenneth Getty still works at his local insurance company, which he started in the 1970s. But he said he doesn't sell insurance. His license was revoked after the conviction.
Christopher Getty is listed as the company's president.
The insurance business became a source of controversy this year when the Tribune reported that two local bars said it was Kenneth Getty who sold them liability insurance. He denied it. And Christopher Getty said it actually was his mother who sold the insurance.
Christopher Getty told the Tribune in March that he would stop selling insurance to bars. He is also the town's liquor commissioner, giving him considerable sway over bar owners.
Christopher Getty didn't return a phone call seeking comment on the appointment. Kenneth Getty said his experience will be valuable to the board.
"Probably no one knows the town better than me," he said.
Kenneth Getty was appointed by his fellow trustees to be mayor in the spring of 1996 after the incumbent resigned. By year's end, federal investigators had seized records at Village Hall. Getty lost his campaign for the post the following year.
Getty was indicted in 1997 on charges that he schemed with the village architect to rig bids for two town construction projects so the architect's son would get the contracts. Prosecutors said the three took $179,000 in the scheme.
At sentencing, Kenneth Getty read a four-page letter blaming political opponents and his lawyer. U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo accused him of lying on the witness stand and sentenced him to 66 months in prison.
