August 7, 2002
Candidate tried to bribe cop: Reports
Robert Rita faces charges on domestic battery, criminal trespass
By Stephanie Gehring
Staff writer
Robert Rita, the Democratic candidate for the Illinois
House of Representatives in the 28th District, tried
to bribe police in Nevada 11 years ago to get out of a
drunken driving charge, police records show.
Rita, a Calumet Township trustee and Blue Island
resident, was 21 when concerns about keeping a Cook
County government job prompted him to make at
least five bribe offers to sheriff ’s police in Nye County,
Nevada, the reports from the arrest show. With each
offer, the amount of the bribe escalated, starting at $100
and increasing to $800, the reports show.
The reports also indicate that Rita’s father, John,
Calumet Township Democratic committeemen and
former Blue Island mayor; and his brother John Jr., then
a Cook County sheriff ’s lieutenant, called Nye County
deputy sheriffs “several” times “asking if there was
anything (police) could do as ‘professional courtesy.’ ”
Robert Rita was charged with bribery of a police officer,
but court records from the case have been sealed by
court order, according to the court clerk in Nevada’s 5th
Judicial District.
Rita, now 32, also currently faces charges of domestic
battery and criminal trespass to a residence after
Evergreen Park police said he roughed up an ex-
girlfriend in her home July 15.
The woman has an order of protection against Rita,
who is divorced from another woman.
Rita, who continues to hold a full-time Cook County
highway department job, is scheduled to appear in court
Aug. 19.
Members of the Rita family did not reply to requests for
comment on Tuesday regarding Robert Rita’s Nevada
arrest.
Robert Rita narrowly won a three-way primary race
for the Democratic nomination in the 28th District in
March. He will face Republican Wayland Johnson in the
general election in November.
The 28th District encompasses much of Blue
Island, parts of Palos Park, Orland Park, Midlothian,
Crestwood, Calumet Park, Robbins and a small section
of Chicago’s South Side.
Rita is in his second term as Calumet Township trustee.
His mother, Rose Rita, is an alderman in Blue Island’s
3rd Ward.
According to Nye County sheriff ’s police reports,
Robert Rita’s vehicle was stopped for speeding March
11, 1991, shortly after 1 a.m. in Pahrump, Nev., after the
vehicle was clocked at traveling 100 miles per hour in a
55-mile-per hour zone. Pahrump is an unincorporated
community located 60 miles from Las Vegas.
Rita failed field sobriety tests, so police conducted a
breath test. The test results indicated that Rita “had a
blood alcohol content of 0.14 and 0.13,” police reports
show.
The legal limit in Nevada is 0.10, Nye County Sheriff
Wade Lieseke Jr. said.
Rita initially offered the arresting deputy sheriff $100
to drop the charges as he was being taken to the police
station, reports say. After police warned him that bribery
was a felony, Rita offered bribes of $200 and then $300,
according to the reports.
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A second deputy, Doug Richards, was offered $400
to split with two other officers while Rita was being
booked, the reports say.
“Mr. Rita then asked me what his bail was, and I said
$800 for the driving under the influence and $105 for
the speeding ticket,” Richards wrote in the report. “I
then asked Mr. Rita how I could justify taking the money
on paper, and he stated, ‘Just make a receipt for $105 for
the speeding ticket and keep the rest.’ ”
At that point he was informed he would be charged with
bribing an officer.
“I think he was quite surprised when no one took him
up on it,” Richards, who has since retired from police
work, told the Daily Southtown on Tuesday.
Nevada court officials say there are many reasons for
court records to be sealed. But once the records are
sealed, a defendant can legally hide a conviction or an
arrest, officials said.
“Sometimes cases are dismissed, and people want them
sealed,” Nevada 5th Judicial District Court Clerk Sandra
Merlino said.
Sealing the documents restores one’s civil rights after a
conviction, allowing one to vote, hold office and own a
gun, court officials said.
Richards recalls that Rita pleaded guilty to the bribery
charge and was fined, he told the Southtown.
The outcome of the drunken driving case against Rita,
heard in the Justice Court in Pahrump, was unavailable
Tuesday.
Rita’s driving record in Illinois is clean, a spokeswoman
for the secretary of state’s office said.
The spokeswoman said a drunken driving conviction
should show up on a person’s driving record.
Rita has had a commercial driver’s license at least since
1999, the spokeswoman said.
The license allows him to operate a vehicle over 26,001
pounds and pull up to 10,000 pounds.
Robert Rita works as a road equipment operator for the
Cook County Highway Department. He earns $61,776 a
year, a county board spokeswoman said.
In 1991, he worked as a truck driver for the Cook
County Highway Department, documents show.
His brother John Rita Jr. was a lieutenant in the Cook
County sheriff ’s police department. He joined the
department in 1975 and retired earlier this year, sheriff ’s
spokesman Bill Cunningham said.
His father, John Rita Sr., works for Cook County’s
Bureau of Administration as “coordinator of
unincorporated services.” He earns $82,958 a year, the
spokeswoman said.
Richards on Tuesday recalled the phone calls they made
in 1991.
“They called and tried to make light of it,” Richards
said.
Lieseke said bribery of police officers was uncommon in
his county, which is a large rural county outside of Las
Vegas.
Richards said the decade-old incident stuck out clearly in
his mind because it was so blatant.
“He was so adamant, like it was the end of the world,”
Richards said. “Even after being forewarned about what
the consequences were, he continued. I did think he was
desperate.”
Staff reporter Anne Bowhay contributed to this report.
This story is no longer available on the Southtown
Star website and has been reprinted with permission
from the newspaper.
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