Mayor of Chicago suburb, Lawrence Jackson indicted on perjury and obstruction charges

The mayor of south suburban Riverdale has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The indictment alleges that Mayor Lawrence Jackson lied under oath during a civil deposition and obstructed a lawsuit accusing him of retaliating against a former city vendor.

The indictment claims that Tri-State Disposal Inc., a waste management company in Riverdale, filed a civil lawsuit in 2018 against Riverdale and Jackson. The lawsuit accused Jackson of retaliating against Tri-State by not renewing its garbage collection contract with the city. The owners of Tri-State had publicly voiced opposition to the city’s issuance of a zoning permit allowing a recycling and waste transfer business to operate in Riverdale. This recycling business was allegedly owned by an individual associated with Jackson, who assisted in replacing Tri-State with a different garbage collection company.