Andrew Zinke plus Rita Corporation equals ON THE TAKE
Undersheriff Andrew Zinke and the Rita Corporation on RT 31
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog called, “Andrew Zinke for McHenry County Sheriff, Really?” In my blog I relate my personal experience and what it was like having Andrew Zinke reopen my father’s case. Here’s the link to that blog.
I suggested that you should go and read Cal Skinner’s blog the McHenryCountyblog.com and Gus Philpott’s Woodstock Advocate.com. I am also going to suggest another site that has received my attention. It is Pete Gonigam’s FirstElectricNewspaper.com. We are all very busy with our own lives, and engaging in the politics of McHenry County can be mentally draining. However, those that serve their own interest, when they should be serving all of our interest, depend on that fact that you are too busy to pay attention, so engage.
In my blog about Andrew Zinke I spoke about his arrogance and his disdain for victims who want to find out exactly what happened to their loved ones. His ineptitude seems to be of a larger scope, it also seems to include a disdain for law enforcement and their personal safety.
The law of the land is that drugs are illegal. Regardless of your views on drug laws, that is the law the land and we should all expect law enforcement to abide by them. In the case of Undersheriff Zinke the law can be overlooked if you’re part of his network of friends.
On October 25, 2012 Sgt. John Koziol of the McHenry County Sheriff’s office asked for a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation of Undersheriff Zinke. Koziol alleges that the Undersheriff tipped off a suspect in a cooperative drug investigation with the DEA.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Zinke issued a statement he was calling Koziol a disgruntled employee and said his assertions are “false and being made out of spite.”
In the court filing by Koziol he states that on July 9, 2012 he was working with the DEA task force. They had intercepted a truck carrying 4,000 pounds of marijuana to Crystal Lake, Illinois. That was only the beginning. They later learned that over 60,000 pounds of marijuana was shipped to Crystal Lake and two other locations over a 10 month period. At this time Koziol got permission from his supervisor to go ahead and tell Undersheriff Zinke about the investigation. Not only did he tell Zinke about the investigation, he also told who they suspected. Koziol told Zinke that the truck was heading to the Rita Corporation in Crystal Lake, which is owned by Brian Goode.
On July 13, 2012 Koziol claims that he saw Zinke speaking the Brian Goode outside the McHenry County Government Center in Woodstock. Koziol also claims that Zinke had said to him that he told Brian Goode ” everything.”
At the beginning Zinke was denying everything. ” The complaint against me is not only a erroneous and without merit, it also puts DEA officers in jeopardy during their ongoing investigation of narcotic trafficking.” Apparently, there must’ve been some evidence that Zinke did exactly what Koziol accused him of. Later, Zinke would make claim of no wrongdoing but he would not deny telling Brian Goode “everything.”
So Zinke LIED! He stated that Koziol claims were false and made out of spite, but they were true. Not only that but he tried to slander the character of a fellow law enforcement officer for his own short comings up judgement and character. He even accused this man of jeopardizing the DEA officers when he was he that was jeopardizing their safety and well-being., I am going to take this moment to remind you, because I think it’s necessary, this is the second highest law enforcement officer in McHenry County.
This does get better, believe it or not. Who is Brian Goode? For one, he serves as the McHenry County Sheriff’s Merit Commissioner. The Daily Herald reports that the Rita Corporation has donated over $50,000 to Zinke’s campaign. He’s also contributed $50,000 from 1999 to 2011 to campaigns for McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren. The address to the Rita Corporation is 850 S. Route 31, the very same address for Zinke’s campaign headquarters. This is a link to the Merit Commission’s web page, so you can understand the role of a commissioner and judge for yourself if this role should be filled by Brian Goode.
So is this the beginning of the end to Undersheriff Zinke? Well, it was perceived that the McHenry County state’s attorney’s office could not ethically investigate Zinke as they were already defending him in multiple civil lawsuits. So that left it up to the Sheriff to do his own investigation and he did. Sheriff Keith Nygren give Zinke two thumbs up. So what happened the Zinke? NOTHING! That is right absolutely, positively nothing. No one in this situation could find that Zinke broke any law or a Sheriff’s Order.
So who are you voting for in the McHenry County Sheriff election, Zinke?
UPDATE AS OF TODAY June 19, 2013: Pete Gonigan of the FirstElectricNewspaper.com filed for FOIA Request (Freedom of Information Act) for the Sheriff Nygren’s investigative report that cleared Undersheriff Andrew Zinke of any wrong doing in this matter. Donald Leist (does this name sound familiar? If not, here is my blog from last week) the EEO/Legal Affairs Officer refused his request. On Appeal to PAB, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office ordered the report released to FEN last month but Nygren hasn’t done it. FEN has filed a lawsuit asking the Circuit Court to order Sheriff Nygren to release the investigative report. Go get them Pete; GET SOME, GET SOME!!! (Marine Corps expression)
You can read the article here at the FirstElectricNewspaper
The WoodstockAdvocate also has an article on the lawsuit and you can read it here
