The Department of Politics and Government presents “Operation Greylord: Corruption in the Cook County Courts,” featuring Terrance Hake on Wednesday, March 22, from 6-8 p.m. in the Prairie Room at the Bone Student Center.
Operation Greylord investigated charges of public corruption in the Cook County court system that resulted in indictments against 103 judges, attorneys, and court personnel for selling the justice system to the highest bidder.
In April 1980, Hake agreed to assist the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office in Operation Greylord. For three years and seven months, he worked undercover posing as a corrupt prosecutor by accepting bribes from attorneys and later as an attorney in private practice making payoffs to judges and court personnel for the dismissal of cases. When the last Greylord trial concluded in 1994, Hake had testified at the trials of 23 defendants.
Hake is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He started as a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office where he noticed and reported corruption in the court process. He served in federal law enforcement for 23 years and eventually returned to the practice of law as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County. He retired in 2016.
This presentation is open to the public and is co-sponsored by the McLean County Bar Association and the Department of Politics and Government.
