{"id":1616508,"date":"2022-08-19T12:12:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T16:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1616508"},"modified":"2022-08-19T12:13:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T16:13:10","slug":"dem-congressman-rented-office-space-from-convicted-cocaine-trafficker-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-congressman-rented-office-space-from-convicted-cocaine-trafficker-records-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem Congressman Rented Office Space From Convicted Cocaine Trafficker, Records Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdem-congressman-rented-office-space-from-convicted-cocaine-trafficker-records-show%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1616508&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democratic Illinois Rep. Danny Davis rented office space from a butcher previously convicted for his involvement in a multimillion dollar Chicago cocaine trafficking ring, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.<\/p>\n<p>Davis\u2019 campaign paid Mario\u2019s Butcher Chop in Chicago more than $20,000 between 2014 and 2020, primarily for office rent and also groceries and catering, FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?data_type=processed&amp;committee_id=C00172619&amp;recipient_name=MARIOS+BUTCHER+SHOP&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2008&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2010&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2012&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2014&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2016&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2018&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">records<\/a> show. Mario\u2019s Butcher Shop is owned by Mariano \u201cMario\u201d Lettieri and his wife, and took center stage in a 1990 drug bust involving Lettieri, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1990-11-17-9004050274-story.html\">the<\/a> Chicago Tribune reported in 1990. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/07\/26\/senators-press-kemp-chester-national-drug-control-policy-fentanyl-epidemic\/\"><strong>(RELATED: Senators Press Top Biden Admin Official On \u2018Embarrassing\u2019 Response To Fentanyl, Opioid Epidemic)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lettieri was sentenced to roughly 16 years in prison in 1990 for being the primary supplier for a drug ring run by a former police officer, the Chicago Tribune reported. The butcher reportedly supplied his contact with up to six kilograms of cocaine each month for six months, charging $33,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for Davis did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s request for comment. The congressman\u2019s chief of staff told The Washington Free Beacon, which first <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/landlord-problems-illinois-dem-pays-thousands-in-rent-to-cocaine-pushing-butcher\/\">reported<\/a> on the payments, that Davis supports giving people \u201csecond chances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve often questioned why Congressman Davis says one thing and yet his actions seem to go in a different direction,\u201d Jeff Fiedler, a spokesman for the Chicago Republican Party, told the DCNF. \u201cSecond chances are admirable intent, but in this case we\u2019re wondering why he would make such a questionable decision when there are thousands of other options for office space on the West side.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7505751\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7505751\" class=\"wp-image-7505751 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-scaled-1.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-180x120.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-620x413-1.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-768x512-1.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-1536x1024-1.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1241181879-2048x1365-1.jpeg 2048w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7505751\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 JUNE 08: Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on gun violence on June 8, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Davis notably unveiled \u201ca coalition of drug prevention groups\u201d in 2021 to fight opioid overdose deaths in Illinois, <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagocrusader.com\/reps-davis-and-ford-to-address-opioid-impact-2\/\">the<\/a> Chicago Crusader reported. The congressman in 2006 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbez.org\/stories\/davis-money-needed-to-help-drug-addicts\/d95fd4c1-55df-4bbd-af3e-e6c3ef2d943b\">demanded<\/a> $4 million in emergency funds go toward addressing drug addiction in Cook County, WBEZ Chicago reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got to do something to break the cycle of opioid deaths,\u201d said Davis in 2021, according to the Chicago Crusader. \u201cLast year, we had one block where five or six people overdosed within a week\u2019s time. Drug use, opioid addiction is out of hand and more must be done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Davis, whose 7th Congressional District represents most of western Chicago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/chicago-politics\/rep-danny-davis-fends-off-kina-collins-primary-challenge-nbc-news-projects\/2868985\/\">beat<\/a> out his Democratic challenger Kina Collins in the June primary. Davis does not currently have a Republican challenger in his district, which <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Illinois%27_7th_Congressional_District\">voted<\/a> by a rate of more than 80% in 2020 to re-elect him.<\/p>\n<p>The DCNF has reached out to Mario\u2019s Butcher Shop for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Illinois Rep. Danny Davis rented office space from a butcher previously convicted for his involvement in a multimillion dollar Chicago cocaine trafficking ring, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1616508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1616508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1616508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1616508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1616508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}