Jerome "Jerry" Cosentino (June 13, 1931 – April 3, 1997) was an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He was a Democrat who served as state

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

from 1979 until 1983, and again from 1987 until 1991.

Life and politics

Cosentino was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. A trucker, he owned Fast Motor Service, a

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

company. His first elective office was Metropolitan Sanitary District Commissioner in Cook County, an office he held from 1975 to 1979. Cosentino also held partisan offices, serving as the Democratic committeeman of Palos Township and as a member of the state central committee of the Illinois Democratic Party. Cosentino was elected to the office of Illinois Treasurer in November 1978, becoming the first Italian-American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois. In 1982, Cosentino did not seek renomination for his position, electing instead to run for the post of

Illinois Secretary of State The secretary of state of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 Secretary of State (U.S. state government), secretaries of state in the United States. The Illinois secretary of ...

; he lost to

Jim Edgar James Robert Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A Moderate Republican (modern United States), moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he previously s ...

. After four years in the private sector, Cosentino again sought the office of state Treasurer and was re-elected in November 1986, eventually serving two nonconsecutive terms in this position. In November 1990, Cosentino ran again for Secretary of State, losing to George Ryan. After leaving office in January 1991, the former state treasurer was indicted for

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

. He pleaded guilty to this offense in April 1992, and was sentenced to serve nine months in home confinement. Upon completing this sentence, the former official left Illinois and moved to Naples, Florida, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosentino, Jerome 1931 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago Politicians from Chicago Illinois Democrats American fraudsters American people of Italian descent State treasurers of Illinois Illinois politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century Illinois politicians 20th-century American businesspeople