American history is full of rags-to-riches-type stories. It seems to be woven into the very fabric of the country itself, downtrodden peoples from across the world coming to find a new life in a new place. So many have come to America and found not only a new life and some measure of success, including the woman in this particular tale.
Jessica Arong came to this country with almost nothing at the tender age of 16. She came from the Philippines, a rather poor country but was intent on making it in the United States at any cost. Little did she know what that particular idiom truly meant…
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Coming to America
Coming to this country is not an easy task. These days, we speak quite a bit about immigration as a society. Of course, the current conversation has more to do with keeping folks out of the country than remembering that each and every one of our families came here in a very similar way and for many of the same reasons.
Humble Arrival
Even at the humble age of 16, Jessica knew that she was capable of achieving anything, despite what anyone told her. She tried to enter into a community college program but was told that she wasn’t ready to take college-level courses. She was placed in a remedial program but did not let that deter her and worked her way up and through the ranks.
Many Degrees
Eventually, Jessica earned degrees in culinary arts and restaurant management, but that wasn’t enough for her. She decided that she wanted to study law after that and in 1998 ended up graduating from the John Marshall Law School. Considering her humble beginnings, it was a stunning series of achievements.
Famous Firsts
As she made her way up the career ladder, Jessica ended up gaining a number of famous firsts along the way. In the early 2000s, she became the first Asian elected president of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She then helped to co-found a foundation that would help others like herself. The foundation still awards scholarships to law students from diverse backgrounds even today. But she wasn’t done yet.
A Filipina First
Eventually, Jessica married fellow Cook County Judge Brendan O’Brien and started a family of her own. In time, she herself earned a judge position and became the first Filipina judge in Cook County, Chicago, sitting on the bench right beside her husband. She had done just as she said she would and proved everyone wrong.
Huge Responsibility
In May 2016, Jessica O’Brien did an interview with abc7 and spoke about her new judge’s position. “I really believe that being the first, although it is a true honor, it is also a huge responsibility because I have to make sure I pursue excellence in everything that I do.” Like any politician though, she had her own share of skeletons in the closet.
Tenacity
It was in that same clip that Timothy Evans, chief judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County lauded her for being an open, optimistic, welcoming, tenacious representative of the law. She inspired other law students and even organized a trip amongst them to meet Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Washington D.C.
Drawing Comparisons
Jessica herself felt as though people should be held accountable for their own conduct and should be treated accordingly by the law. She was a staunch defender of the letter of the law and adhering to it. Nevertheless, both of these sensibilities would ultimately become ironic in due course.
Fall from Grace
At 51 years old, Jessica Arong O’Brien had become a respected jurist and civic leader. That was before 2017 when someone discovered a bit of a black mark on the judge’s record. It was something that she’d engaged in decades before of course, but that didn’t make what she’d done any less illegal.
Mortgage Scam
Jessica’s actions involved lying to lenders in order to obtain more than $1.4 million in mortgages on two investment properties in Chicago. She’d bought and sold the two illegal properties between 2004 and 2007, all while she had ownership of a real estate company. The problem was that she also happened to be a special assistant attorney general for the Illinois Department of Revenue at the time.
Quite Lucrative
Prosecutors allege that she made an impressive $325,000 profit from the transactions by unloading the two homes and subsequently paying kickbacks to a straw purchaser. This “straw purchaser” as they are sometimes called, ended up defaulting on the payments to lenders and the properties went into foreclosure.
Conviction
Essentially, Jessica and her as yet unnamed partners ended up scamming several lenders. They had purchased the two south side properties and Jessica had reaped the profits in the end by using lies and broken promises. Once the scheme was uncovered, Jessica was charged and brought before a federal jury.
Lies
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Madden spoke to the jury about the former judge’s alleged scheme and their perceived reasoning for her involvement. At that point in her life, Jessica had no financial need to commit the fraud but ended up doing so anyway. So the question now was, why would someone with so much to lose take such a risk?
Collateral Damage
Jessica admittedly told the court that she was sorry her behavior had ruined her husband’s good name and blamed her voluntary involvement in the real estate scheme on family issues that she had been facing in 2003. This was hardly an excuse, mind you, but it was the only one she seemed capable of offering under oath.
Resigned to a Sentence
As soon as she was indicted in 2017, Jessica reassigned her administrative duties and officially resigned from her post. The trial concluded with her receiving a one-year prison sentence for her crimes. Nevertheless, the fallout from her earlier misdeeds has had a far-reaching effect on many in her life.
Embarrassment
Though her lawyer had advised against it, Jessica chose to speak to reporters following the verdict. “I’m an embarrassment,” she said. She also spoke about how she “should have known better.” She felt as if she had shamed her family and lost a career that she’d worked tremendously hard for.
Admitted Stupidity
“Of all those things that everyone has told you about me, one thing was missing,” she continued. She called herself “stupid” and admitted that she feels great remorse for that stupidity on her part. The prosecutors acting against her have their own opinions on her actions and her supposed reasoning.
Not Merely Stupid
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin has since denied her and her lawyer’s requests for probation in her case. His argument against it was that since the fraud scheme lasted almost three years, it wasn’t as if it was done on impulse. “It was a crime,” said the judge. “It wasn’t just stupid…You really didn’t need to do this.”
Fair Warning
More than anything, Jessica hopes that her own fall from grace will serve as fair warning to other lawyers and politicians like herself. She hopes that they will not only be held to a higher standard but that they will hold themselves to the same high standards in a way that she, herself did not.
Fallen Far
Her lawyer, latching onto her meaningful words of regret and warning, hoped that her sensibilities might prove inspirational and help the court to consider probation for her in the long run. “She has fallen as far as she can fall,” says attorney Steve Greenberg. “She has lost everything…There is absolutely no reason to send this poor lady to jail.”
