The owner of a Chicago-area construction company with ties to the investigation of former Ald. Carrie Austin pleaded guilty Wednesday to bribing an employee of the Cook County assessor’s office to reduce taxes on his properties by more than half a million dollars.
Alex Nitchoff, 56, of Lemont, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to bribe a public official and using a facility in interstate commerce to facilitate the acts of bribery, which each carry a maximum of five years in prison.
Prosecutors have calculated preliminary sentencing guidelines at between nine and 10 years, while Nitchoff’s attorneys believe the guidelines should be in the six-year range.
U.S. District Judge John Kness will sort out the recommendations before sentencing Nitchoff on May 8.
Nitchoff grew emotional early in Wednesday’s hearing as the judge asked him a series of questions about his family and medical history. After Kness took a brief recess, Nitchoff remained at the lectern, appearing to wipe tears from his eyes.
“Mr. Nitchoff recognizes that the benefits provided to the assessor’s office employee were inappropriate,” defense attorney Ted Poulos said in an emailed statement to the Tribune on Wednesday. “He very much regrets his poor judgment at the time.”
According to his plea agreement with prosecutors, Nitchoff conspired with others to bribe Lavdim Memisovski, a commercial group leader at the Cook County assessor’s office, to reduce property tax assessments and extend appeals for properties connected to Nitchoff and his company, Summit-based Oakk Construction.
Nitchoff admitted that he and others gave Memisovski home improvement materials and services, as well as contracts for electrical work, jewelry, meals, tickets to sporting events and other items, with the purpose of influencing Memisovski in his work as commercial group leader.
Among the home improvements performed by Oakk for free at Memisovski’s residence were installation of a concrete pad, decking materials, Dumpster services, heads for a new sprinkler system, tiles and windows, according to the plea.
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In return, Memisovski made sure that appeals of property assessments related to Nitchoff and his business associates were routed to him so he could extend deadlines for the filing of appeals and reduce their assessed property values, according to his plea.
In all, Memisovski “took action to reduce the property taxes owed” by Nitchoff-connected properties by at least $550,000, the plea stated.
Memisovski pleaded guilty in 2022 and is cooperating with investigators while awaiting sentencing, court records show.
Nitchoff’s co-worker at Oakk , John Bodendorfer, was indicted last year on charges of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud that mirror the allegations in Nitchoff’s case. Bodendorfer has pleaded not guilty.
Also charged as part of the probe was Joseph Garcia, a rehab specialist for the city of Chicago responsible for inspecting porches constructed under the city-subsidized Emergency Housing Assistance Program.
Garcia falsely claimed to have inspected homes supposedly worked on by Oakk and found the work completed as required, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors. The city then paid the company for replaced porches when the work wasn’t actually done, according to the plea.
Garcia was sentenced to probation in 2021.
Meanwhile, Austin and her chief of staff, Chester Wilson, were indicted on federal bribery charges later that year alleging they shepherded a new real estate development through the City Hall approval process beginning in 2016 and were given home improvement perks from a now-deceased developer seeking to influence them. They have pleaded not guilty.
The Tribune has confirmed through sources and public records that the deceased developer was Nitchoff’s father, Boris, who started the family business after immigrating to Chicago from North Macedonia.
Boris Nitchoff died in November 2020 at age 78, just as the federal investigation was ramping up.
Alex Nitchoff is not accused of any illegal activities related to Austin’s case, and his plea agreement does not contain any requirement that he cooperate with any ongoing investigation.
Austin, who served as the 34th Ward alderman for nearly 30 years before stepping down in early 2023, is currently awaiting a ruling on her motion to declare her medically unfit for trial.
The case had been set for a status hearing Wednesday, but it was moved at the last minute to Feb. 22.