Federal jury convicts former suburban Chicago police chief of bribery and obstruction of justice

Date: Dec. 10, 2025

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CHICAGO - A federal jury in Chicago today convicted the former Chief of Police in the village of Summit, Ill., of bribery offenses for corruptly accepting money from a local businessman to help facilitate the transfer of a liquor license.

After a seven-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the jury found John Kosmowski of Lockport, Ill., guilty of bribery conspiracy, bribery, and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger set sentencing for March 27, 2026.

The conviction was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany Ardam and Jared Hasten.

Evidence at trial revealed that Kosmowski conspired with a Summit building inspector-William Mundy-to accept $10,000 from a businessman in 2017. Kosmowski and Mundy accepted the money intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with the transfer of a liquor license to another person. Kosmowski received a cash payment from the businessman in 2017 and then gave Mundy a portion of it.

Mundy, of Summit, Ill., pleaded guilty prior to trial to bribery and tax offenses. He is awaiting sentencing.

The obstruction conviction against Kosmowski stemmed from a meeting he had with Mundy in which Kosmowski informed Mundy of the federal investigation into the bribe. During the meeting, Kosmowski sought to corruptly persuade Mundy to mischaracterize the purpose of the payment by falsely suggesting that it was a loan.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.