Martin Sandoval

Martin A. Sandoval (January 12, 1964 – December 5, 2020) was an American Democratic politician and senator for Illinois who admitted guilt to corruption charges in 2020. He sat in the Illinois Senate from 2003 to 2020.

Early life Sandoval was born January 12, 1964, in the Back of the Yards, a neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side. He graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary South High School and went on to Loyola University, Chicago, where he received a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Political career By 2002, Sandoval was a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; he ran for election to commissioner and to state senator at the same time.

Illinois Senate Sandoval was elected in 2002 as state senator and was then sworn into office in 2003.

Sandoval was part of the Illinois Senate leadership. As of 2019, Sandoval was the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and of the Special Committee on Supplier Diversity; Sub-Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Capital; and a member of the Energy and Public Utilities, Higher Education, and Licensed Activities committees and the Special Committee on Pension Investments. Photos from the event were posted on Facebook the next day showing a mock assassination of President Donald Trump. In the photo, a man wearing the Trump mask appears to grab his chest and lean back as if being shot by a man holding an ersatz assault rifle. Also posted were separate images of Sandoval standing with the man who held the gun in the contentious photo. The pictures sparked outrage online and condemnation from Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker; Sandoval released a statement apologizing for the "unacceptable" actions of the guests at his event.

In May 2019, Sandoval introduced legislation that proposed to increase the annual registration fee for electric vehicles from $17.50 to $1,000.00, which would have raised about $2.4 billion in annual funding.

Corruption On September 24, 2019, Sandoval's offices in the Illinois State Capitol building and his regional office in both Springfield and Cicero were raided by federal agents from the FBI and IRS. The same day two officials were seen exiting Sandoval's house to get hand trucks to take inside. Sandoval at first refused to comment on the situation. Federal agents involved in the raid were seeking a vast array of information involving construction, transportation and power company officials, lobbyists, gambling interests, a red-light camera company, and at least three suburban mayors. He confirmed that he had taken more than $250,000 in bribes, Despite this, it was never made clear if Sandavol's cooperation had contributed to this ComEd crackdown, with Sandoval never being criminally charged for anything connected to ComEd.