Carbondale Police raided the home of Kevin Kirkwood, owner of the Icebox Bar & Grill, in a search for a recording Kirkwood says he made of a conversation he had with former C'dale mayor Brad Cole, regarding Kirkwood's attempts to obtain a liquor license for the restaurant. Under Illinois law, it is illegal to record a conversation without the knowldege of all parties concerned, so if Kirkwood did record the conversation with Cole, he is looking at a felony charge. That probably accounts for his backtracking in the June 7th story, where he says it was a mental recording:
I’m saying I did not (record the conversation),” Kirkwood said. “I have a mental recording of every conversation that I have, especially dealing with this liquor license situation.
This bit from the story is also quite interesting, as Kirkwood claims he was originally contacted by the C'dale police seeking the recording as evidence in a corruption investigation of Brad Cole:
Kirkwood said shortly after the article was published, two officers showed up at his barbershop, Illusions, and gave the impression they needed his help. He said Lt. Stan Reno told him an investigation was being conducted on Cole for corruption and they needed his assistance. Kirkwood said he received a phone call a few days later from Reno in which the lieutenant asked for an SD card that contained the recording.
“I told them, ‘I don’t know where it’s at. I can’t find it,’ because in all actuality, there wasn’t a real recording of me and Brad talking,” Kirkwood said.
If this is true, it's the first I've heard of any investigation of Brad Cole's activities while mayor.
I’m saying I did not (record the conversation),” Kirkwood said. “I have a mental recording of every conversation that I have, especially dealing with this liquor license situation.
This bit from the story is also quite interesting, as Kirkwood claims he was originally contacted by the C'dale police seeking the recording as evidence in a corruption investigation of Brad Cole:
Kirkwood said shortly after the article was published, two officers showed up at his barbershop, Illusions, and gave the impression they needed his help. He said Lt. Stan Reno told him an investigation was being conducted on Cole for corruption and they needed his assistance. Kirkwood said he received a phone call a few days later from Reno in which the lieutenant asked for an SD card that contained the recording.
“I told them, ‘I don’t know where it’s at. I can’t find it,’ because in all actuality, there wasn’t a real recording of me and Brad talking,” Kirkwood said.
If this is true, it's the first I've heard of any investigation of Brad Cole's activities while mayor.
I assumed the statement from police that they were investigating Cole was a lie. Police often lie to suspects to trick them into cooperating with an investigation and incriminating themselves. Incidentally, it's legal for police to lie to suspects.
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