A federal judge has stepped in to aid an aging former Democrat Chicago official after she was accused of bribery and lying to federal government employees, with the judge saying that the former official is unfit for trial based on her age and failing health.
For background, Carrie Austin, a 76-year-old former Chicago alderman, is the subject of an unresolved federal indictment filed in 2021, which accused her of bribery and lying to the FBI after she allegedly accepted money from a developer in exchange for kickbacks, which she later denied when authorities raided her offices. However, while Austin was scheduled to stand trial in 2025, U.S. District Judge John Kness wrote that having Austin appear in court would create a risk for her health.
In a ruling issued on July 9, 2025, Judge Kness wrote that requiring Austin to face trial “would present an unacceptable risk to her health,” adding, “Defendant is 76 years old and suffers from serious health problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), various heart ailments, and cancer.” Moreover, the judge said that Austin’s health was “progressively declining, she can do nothing to stop it, and the measures that could be implemented to reduce those risks are inadequate.”
Moreover, Judge Kness referred to the “stress of trial” in his decision, saying that Austin “is able to meet with her attorneys only for an hour or two at a time, and her counsel maintains that Defendant has been ‘physically incapable of assisting [counsel] in the defense.”
Next, the judge built on his case for Austin to skip trial, saying, “Meeting with counsel for hours after trial in addition to sitting through an entire trial day and traveling between the courthouse and her attorney’s office will likely prove difficult if not impossible for Defendant.”
Continuing, the judge argued that if Austin “struggles to meet with her attorneys for more than a few hours when resting at home,” she would be unable to handle the “off-hours and lengthy, stressful meetings” associated with a trial. Likewise, a court-appointed doctor reportedly also stated that Austin was not fit to stand trial, stating that she ” is not likely to tolerate crossing town daily for both courtroom activities and daily review sessions with her lawyer[s].”
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In addition, Judge Kness said that Austin was “of course, presumed innocent of the charges against her.” He added, “But by the same token, she remains under the cloud of a criminal indictment returned by a grand jury.” He concluded, “Barring a material improvement in her health, she may indeed never face the prospect of a guilty verdict; but then again, she may also never enjoy the restorative benefit of a not guilty verdict.”
Importantly, Austin has reportedly been in poor health for years, with the Chicago Sun-Times stating that she collapsed in her seat at a City Council meeting in 2021. Responding to the incident, Chicago’s then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised Austin, saying, “Every time that I’m down there, anytime there’s a project there, any time that she’s talking about her community, she has a fire for them and advocating for people in the area that many people in the city don’t know much about and never been to. So I think that would be a big, important part of her legacy.”
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