Ex-Police Chief Convicted By Federal Jury Of Taking $10K Bribe From Bar Owner

SUMMIT, IL — A former Summit police chief was found guilty of taking a bribe from a local bar owner to help facilitate the transfer of a liquor license. John Kosmowski, 59, of Homer Glen, was convicted by a jury of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice after a seven-day federal trial at the Dirksen Building.

The former chief and a Summit building inspector, William Mundy, split a $10,000 bribe from a local bar owner to transfer a liquor license in March 2017. The two tried to cover it up by telling federal agents that the money was for a loan when confronted by federal authorities, according to the criminal complaint.

Mundy, who lives in Summit, pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges of pleaded guilty prior to trial to bribery and tax offenses. He is awaiting sentencing. Mundy began cooperating with the FBI in 2020 and was a star witness for the prosecution. Much of Mundy’s testimony focused on wire-tapped conversations with his friend, the police chief.

During the trial, federal prosecutors alleged that Kosmowski and Mundy accepted a $10,000 bribe from Kris Hodurek, who owned the Fire Station Pub at 6336 S. Harlem in Summit. The bar owner wanted the liquor license transferred to his son. Although neither had authority to approve nor transfer liquor licenses, Kosmowski and Mundy agreed to pull some strings with the mayor, prosecutors said.

After Mundy received his half of the bribe later in the day, prosecutors said he called Mayor Sergio Rodriguez, identified as “Individual C” in the criminal complaint. With Kosmowski listening, he persuaded the mayor to approve the transfer of the bar’s liquor license. Rodriguez has not been charged with wrong doing.

Five years later, in March 2022, Kosmowski and Mundy met up at a wake in Justice. Kosmowski is alleged to have told Mundy, who was wearing a wire, that a grand jury was investigating the circumstances of the liquor license transfer from 2017.

By then, the bar owner had already been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.

“What if he tells the f—--g truth,” Mundy was heard saying in consensual wire taps.

“What? There is no truth,” Kosmowski responded.

Kosmowski proposed a cover-up story that Mundy’s cut of the bribe was “simply a loan from Kosmowski to Mundy” and that it would be “their version against ours.” He warned Mundy that the government would be “indicting soon.”

Both men were indicted in May 2022 with conspiring to accept a bribe

In their final arguments, Kosmowski’s attorneys said the money from Hodurek was a loan and that the money was paid back in full, the Chicago Tribune reported.

U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger set a tentative sentencing date of March 27. Kosmowski faces up to 20 years for obstruction of justice, 10 years maximum for the bribery charge, and up to five years for conspiracy.