Robert Cooley, a former Chicago police officer cum mob lawyer turned federal informant, maintained surveillance on Hot Rod Blagojevich during the 80’s and 90’s as part of a federal investigation called Operation Gambat. Cooley calls Hot Rod a ‘bookie’ and says that he told authorities nearly 20 years ago that Blagojevich was operating an illegal gambling business.

Cooley says that before Rod Blagojevich got into politics he was a bookmaker on the North Side who regularly paid the Chicago mob to operate.

“When I was working with government wearing wire, I reported, I observed Rod, the present governor, who was running a gambling operation out in the western suburbs. He was paying street tax to the mob out there,” said Robert Cooley, federal informant.

On a web-based interview show last week, Cooley said he reported to federal authorities nearly two decades ago that Rod Blagojevich had been operating an illegal sports gambling business.

How interesting! But there’s more…

He told ABC7 that Mr. Blagojevich regularly paid a so-called street tax to Robert “Bobby the Boxer” Abbinanti, a convicted outfit gambling collector. In the early 1980’s, Abbinanti was working for convicted West Side mob boss Marco D’amico. Bookies pay street taxes to the crime syndicate in exchange for being allowed to operate such a racket.

“I predicted five years ago when he ran the first time that he was a hands on person who would be selling every position in the state of Illinois and that it exactly what happened,” said Cooley.

Cooley maintains that Illinois corruption is ‘unstoppable’. I guess he’d know.