The sting came to be known as Operation Greylord. It included installing listening devices in judges’ chambers and creating fabricated cases that would be tried before judges who were under investigation.
Sullivan embarked on an audacious plan to root out bribery and case-fixing in the Cook County Circuit Court system. He had helped build the pro bono practice at Jenner & Block, the firm where he worked for his entire career, and had argued successfully in state court in 1971 that marijuana’s classification as a hard drug was unconstitutional the case involved a man who had been sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison for possession of a small amount.Īs federal prosecutor, Mr. Sullivan had established himself as a formidable lawyer when he was named United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in 1977. His wife, Anne Landau, confirmed the death.
Thomas Sullivan, a prominent defense lawyer in Chicago who, during his brief time as a federal prosecutor, helped initiate an extensive undercover investigation of corruption within the county court system that led to the convictions of judges, lawyers and sheriffs, died on May 18 at his home in Wilmette, Ill., outside Chicago.
