No "Smollett Deal" For You! 77-year-old inventor of the Wrigleyville rooftop suddenly has a criminal record — For filing a false police reportIt’s been quite a ride for Robert Racky. Armed only with a few lawn chairs, the now 77-year-old businessman literally invented the Wrigleyville rooftop business that lets Cubs fans watch home games from the rooftops of homes along Waveland and Sheffield Avenues.
Born eleven days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Racky has a squeaky clean criminal record, too. Well, he did until Monday. That’s when he finally decided to plead guilty after fighting a charge of felony disorderly conduct-false report for eight months. A judge sentenced him to two days in jail that he had already served.
So—unlike TV star Jussie Smollett, who was charged with exactly the same felony as the rooftop king—Racky will be wrapping up his life with a criminal record in Chicago.
There were some clear differences between Smollett’s allegedly fake hate crime claim and Racky’s case. Racky immediately admitted to police that his report was false. To this day, Smollett has not admitted that he made up the story about being attacked by two men who tied a noose around his neck, poured bleach on him, and shouted anti-gay, anti-black slurs while calling Streeterville “MAGA country.”
The police investigation of Racky’s claim lasted less than ten minutes. The Smollett investigation took weeks and cost the city over $130,000 in police overtime alone.
No one ever heard of Racky’s false claim (unless you read about it on CWBChicago last year). Smollett and his “close associates” leaked his purported attack story to the Hollywood media and then fanned the flames of hate while the national spotlight shined on Chicago.
And, Racky didn’t have a state-issued Firearm Owner’s ID card.
On the other hand, Smollett had a criminal history of providing false information to police in California, while Racky had never been convicted of any crime despite being twice Smollett’s age.
Smollett’s case was quickly wrapped up last month in a controversial emergency court hearing. Prosecutors dropped sixteen felony counts against Smollett without requiring him to plead guilty to anything. Then, the case was immediately sealed from public view.
Since then, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her top assistants have said the “don’t plead guilty to anything” deal they gave to Smollett was "available to all defendants" in similar circumstances. Despite hours of research, CWBChicago has yet to find a single case that supports the prosecutors’ claims.
https://www.cwbchicago.com/2019/04/no-smollett-deal-for-you-77-year-old.html
