Trump pardons Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher

President Donald Trump pardoned Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher from any convictions that could have resulted from an illegal sports betting operation.

“This pardon is supported by his friends and family, and countless members of his community,” a statement on Trump’s final pardons released by the White House late Tuesday said.

Federal prosecutors on Feb. 20 last year announced Urlacher was among 10 people charged in connection with the illegal gambling business. Prosecutors alleged Urlacher, the younger brother of Chicago Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, was among those recruited by ringleader Vincent DelGiudice of Orland Park to enlist new gamblers and to collect or pay out cash.

Urlacher was charged with one count of participating in the gambling conspiracy and one count of conducting an illegal gambling business. Each count would have been punishable by up to five years in a federal prison.

“Throughout his life, Mr. Urlacher has been committed to public service and has consistently given back to his community,” the White House statement said. “Currently, Mr. Urlacher serves as the unpaid Mayor of Mettawa, Illinois. He is a devoted husband to his wife and a loving father to his 17-month old daughter.”

Urlacher told the Chicago Sun-Times the day the indictment was announced that he didn’t know DelGiudice. Brian Urlacher met with Trump at the White House in March 2020, according to press reports.

“I fully believe that I will be exonerated of all of the charges,” Urlacher said at a village board meeting a couple of weeks after the federal indictment. “I will continue to faithfully serve the village as I have over the past seven years, and we will continue on the path of progress that we have made in Mettawa during my tenure.”

The pardon of Urlacher was another example of a Trump pardon for a person who has not yet been convicted, as is typically the case in presidential clemency cases. Trump also pardoned his former strategist Steve Bannon even though the prosecution against him had just begun.

So far DelGiudice’s father, Eugene DelGiudice, has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to three months of home detention, the Sun-Times reports. Vincent DelGiudice is set to plead guilty Monday.

The indictment outlines allegations of Urlacher’s helping to enforce repayment of gambling debts and paying his own, according to the Sun-Times.

The day after the announced charges, Urlacher resigned from his post on the Illinois Civil Service Commission. He was appointed in 2013 by then Gov. Pat Quinn to the five-member panel that hears and decides state employee appeals of various job actions.