Plea deal for 'Quarters' Boyle angers Susana Mendoza

CHICAGO (FOX 32) - Twice-convicted former city employee John Boyle admitted Monday to his involvement in a hit-and-run accident two years ago.

The incident was caught on camera by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. She says the plea deal worked out with State's Attorney Kimm Foxx's prosecutors lets Boyle off too easy. 

Boyle’s nickname, ‘Quarters’ comes from his conviction two decades ago for stealing $4 million, mostly in quarters, when he worked for the Illinois tollway. Monday, he would have needed 2,000 quarters to pay his $500 fine for leaving the scene of an accident.

“I feel it's a slap on the wrist given who this individual is,” said Mendoza.      

Boyle landed a city job after doing time for the tollway theft, then he got caught taking bribes. In this case, Mendoza got cellphone video of a driver leaving an accident scene. She didn’t learn until later that it was Boyle. She says the video suggests Boyle was drunk and posed as a police officer.

“The guy did a lot of things on that video that could have led to additional charges,” said Mendoza. 

Even though she wasn't a victim herself, Mendoza attended every one of Boyle's pretrial hearings, and she showed up Monday not knowing that a plea deal was in the works.     

“The video speaks for itself, and I would have liked for that video to lead the state's attorney's office to upgrade charges against Mr. Boyle,” said Mendoza.

State's Attorney Foxx’s spokesperson told us, "...the evidence related to this case and the law did not support a felony charge."  

The spokesperson added that Boyle's sentence includes a year of conditional discharge, attendance at a victim impact panel, and over $400 in court costs.