When Politics Meets Justice: Inside Illinois’ Special Prosecutors and a Family’s Troubled Case

On a September night in 2014, an 18‑year‑old named Pietro Mautino was driving with a friend in a bronze Kia. The lights were off. Police pulled them over around 1:35 a.m. The car smelled of cannabis. An officer saw Pietro toss a small bottle into the back seat. A search uncovered a pain pill, several anxiety tablets, marijuana, hash oil and drug gear. He faced two counts of illegal drug possession, each a serious felony.

Pietro’s father, Frank Mautino, was a state legislator who also ran a campaign office. Because of those ties, the case was handed to Illinois’ special prosecution team. Before the arrest, a political action committee linked to that team gave money to Frank’s campaign. Soon after, Frank became the state auditor general, a post that nominally watches the special team.

The special team’s leaders have deep political roots. The agency that houses them awards secret contracts to insiders and hires well‑connected lawyers. It has protected powerful defendants while allies kept the agency out of public records laws. The case stalled for three years. A special prosecutor, Dave Neal, offered a plea that gave Pietro 24 months of probation and erased the file. Neal blamed lab backlogs, but an officer said he could have acted faster if asked. Neal did not reply to requests for comment.

The local prosecutor who first took the case, Brian Towne, later joined the special team. Towne received over $5,500 from Frank and was honored with a top legislator award in 2015. The broader agency, created in the late 1970s to fight appeals from poor inmates, says its goal is to keep guilty people locked up. Its operations stay largely hidden from public view.