Ex-Teamsters’ boss gets 19 months in Chicago extortion case

CHICAGO (AP) — A once-powerful labor leader in Chicago has been sentenced to 19 months in federal prison for extorting $325,000 in cash payments from the head of a film studio in the city. John Coli Sr. was sentenced Wednesday in federal court. Coli pleaded guilty in 2019 to extorting the president of Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss several other charges and the former Teamsters union boss agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in other corruption investigations. Last year, his cooperation helped prosecutors in an extortion case in which a former state senator was sentenced this year to a year in prison.