Federal Informant Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Bridgeport plumbing contractor who became an FBI informant has been found dead of an apparent suicide in his business.
WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports Michael DiFoggio, 58, was found inside the office of his business in the 3200 block of South Shields Avenue, around 10 p.m. Tuesday, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Police said they were investigating his death as a possible suicide. An autopsy was set for Wednesday.
DiFoggio wore a wire for the FBI, according to news reports, and secretly recorded conversations with former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, and former Chicago Ald. Ambrosio Medrano.
Last year, DiFoggio pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and was facing 2 ½ years in prison, though he likely would have served less thanks to his cooperation against Moreno and Medrano.
Moreno pleaded guilty to charges he took a $5,000 cash bribe from DiFoggio, in exchange for supporting the development of a waste transfer station in Cicero, while Moreno was on the town's economic development board.
In June, Medrano was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, accused of offering a California man $10,000 in exchange for a contract for mail-order prescription drug business in California. It turned out the man he offered the bribe was an undercover federal agent.
Medrano was later convicted of a separate bribery scheme connected to the sale of bandages to public hospitals.
