Former Summit police chief John Kosmowski is headed to federal prison, closing out a years-long corruption case that turned a small-town liquor-license deal into a full-blown wiretap drama in a Chicago courtroom.
A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday sentenced Kosmowski to three years behind bars after a jury convicted him of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said the case centered on cash tied to a liquor-license transfer and on Kosmowski’s efforts to cover his tracks once the feds started asking questions.
U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger did not mince words at sentencing. After listening to a 2022 recording in which Kosmowski said “there is no truth” and warned a cooperator that “it’s gonna be their version against ours,” Seeger told the former chief, “you sounded like a gangster,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The judge called the trial evidence compelling and said he had weighed a longer term.
Prosecutors’ Account Of The Payoff
Federal prosecutors say the scheme dates back to 2017, when Kosmowski and Summit building inspector William Mundy agreed to take $10,000 from a businessman seeking help transferring a liquor license, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois press release. Kosmowski then passed along a portion of the cash to Mundy, prosecutors said.
Mundy pleaded guilty in 2023 to a bribery conspiracy charge and filing a false tax return. After his plea, he cooperated with investigators and later took the stand against his former colleague.
Undercover Recording And Trial Testimony
Prosecutors built much of their case around a secretly recorded March 2022 meeting between Mundy and Kosmowski. Wearing a wire, Mundy captured the former chief insisting the money had been a “loan” and pushing him to stick to that version of events. On the tape, which jurors heard at trial, Kosmowski is heard saying “there is no truth” and “it’s gonna be their version against ours,” testimony reported by the Chicago Tribune.
That conversation became the backbone of the obstruction charge, with prosecutors arguing that Kosmowski was not just trying to explain away an old payment but actively working to derail a federal investigation.
Sentence, Background And Defense
At sentencing, Seeger turned aside a defense request for home detention, opting instead for three years in prison. Defense attorneys argued that Kosmowski had already paid a steep price: the loss of his career, his livelihood and a pension they valued at roughly $3 million.
Kosmowski, 58, told the court he regretted his choices and pointed to a law enforcement résumé that stretched more than three decades with the Summit Police Department, including over ten years as a DEA task force officer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Legal Implications
A federal jury convicted Kosmowski on Dec. 10, 2025, of bribery conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice. The obstruction count stemmed directly from his effort to get Mundy to characterize the payoff as a mere loan, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The sentencing caps a case prosecutors have framed as part of a broader federal push on suburban public corruption. Seeger’s blunt comments from the bench, combined with the wire recordings that prosecutors say clinched the verdict, highlight how even relatively small payoffs can warp local government decision-making and chip away at already fragile public trust.
