Betty Loren-Maltese became the Cicero Town President in 1993. In 2002, Loren-Maltese was convicted of conspiracy fraud and sentenced to 97 months incarceration. In 2006, after losing her appeals, Goodman was retained tofile a habeas corpus petition in an attempt to overturn her conviction.
At the trial, co-defendant Joseph DeChicio, the Cicero Town Treasurer, blamed Loren-Maltese for the illegal payments to the Town’s corrupt insurer even though all of these payments came out of DeChicio’s office. Goodman obtained sworn affidavits from seven Town Officials, including the Town Clerk, DeChicio’s personal assistant, the Town Attorney, and three members of the Town Board of Trustees. These affidavits established that it was the Town Treasurer (DeChicio) who authorized the illegal payments without Betty’s knowledge or consent, utilized a stamp of her signature, and lied to the Betty and the Cicero Board about making these payments.
The trial Judge refused to grant a hearing on the Petition, and the Appellate Court and U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear our appeals. In February 2010, Loren-Maltese finished serving her sentence and returned to Illinois.