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

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

who served as state

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

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

Life and politics

Cosentino was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. A

trucker A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

, he owned Fast Motor Service, a

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

company. His first elective office was Metropolitan Sanitary District Commissioner in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, 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 The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the oldest extant state party in Illinois and one of just two recognized parties in the state, along with the Republican Party. It is ...

. Cosentino was elected to the office of Illinois Treasurer in November 1978, becoming the first

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

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 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...

; he lost to

Jim Edgar James Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. Previously he served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State ...

. 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 George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 mora ...

. After leaving office in January 1991, the former state treasurer was indicted for bank fraud. He pleaded guilty to this offense in April 1992, and was sentenced to serve nine months in

home confinement In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allo ...

. Upon completing this sentence, the former official left Illinois and moved to

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

, 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 American politicians 20th-century American businesspeople