Gary S. Kimmel, known to many as “Doc,” might have been a notable part of Marina City history even if he had not been convicted of money laundering in 2008. The Chicago dentist lived with his wife at Marina City, where at one time they owned as many as ten units. Kimmel served on the Marina Towers Condominium Association board of directors, including the board’s security and screening committees, until he resigned on January 19, 2006, the day after he was indicted. (Left) Monalisa and Gary Kimmel in an undated photo.

Kimmel’s troubles as he neared his 60th birthday could hardly have been predicted. He served with distinction in the U.S. Army after enlisting in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. Assigned to a mechanized infantry battalion, mobilized whenever other units were in danger of being overrun, Kimmel rose to the rank of sergeant and for ten months led 25 men in almost day-to-day combat.

He received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. In 1969, he drove his vehicle into enemy fire, allowing him and eight other soldiers to escape – but not before a rocket propelled grenade exploded in the back of the vehicle. Another time, a North Vietnamese soldier, being chased by Kimmel into an underground tunnel, tossed a grenade at him, knocking the future dentist unconscious and inflicting severe injuries that put him in the hospital for three months.

Back in Chicago, Kimmel graduated from Northwestern University Dental School and became a licensed dentist in 1978. He was an instructor at Northwestern until 1981, then started a dental practice and co-owned a trucking business. His career seemed to be moving in the right direction but everything changed in 1985. On the Chicago Skyway Bridge, a seven-mile toll road on the city’s south side, a car going the wrong way collided head-on with Kimmel’s car and nearly killed him.

Disabled and unable to work, Kimmel lost the dental practice and the trucking business and in 1988 filed for bankruptcy. It was not until 2002 that he was able to start a new practice, located at 233 East Erie Street, across from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

By that time, Kimmel and his wife, Monalisa, who he had met on a trip to the Philippines in 1992, were living in unit 5618 in Marina City’s east tower. They owned and rented out other units to tenants, including a man Kimmel knew as “Lawrence Benjamin” but the FBI knew him as Robert Lewis Young, a pimp from Detroit who went by the nickname “Blue Diamond.” Often using force and threats, according to the FBI, Young (left) recruited women, including minors, as prostitutes and brought them to various cities. The nationwide prostitution ring, operating in Chicago, Detroit, and Honolulu, was snared by “Innocence Lost,” an ongoing FBI investigation.

Among the women involved was a 17-year-old who told police she started working for Young as a prostitute after meeting him at a bar in Honolulu. She flew to Chicago and somehow wound up on the 56th floor balcony of a Marina City condo unit owned by Kimmel. That is where she was photographed for a website, eros.com, that advertised the services of prostitutes.

She also got her teeth cleaned by Kimmel but was not charged for the service, nor did she have to fill out any forms. And when Young drove the woman to Detroit, it was in a Corvette registered to Kimmel.

Luxury car scheme backfires

Eager to rebuild his credit, Kimmel made a deal with Young to purchase for him luxury cars. Kimmel owned a fleet of luxury vehicles, including a 2005 Audi A4, 2005 Infiniti QX56, 2005 Lexus ES330, 2005 Mercedes G55 and a ML350.

In theory, Young would make payments to Kimmel, who was making payments to lenders such as Town & Country Credit Corporation. But Kimmel was often left on the hook. The money he did receive from Young – to house, transport, and perform dental work on the prostitutes – came from illegal activities and the government’s term for that was “money laundering.”

Little did Kimmel know that the FBI was watching Young and tapping the man’s phone, and since he was often seen with Young, Kimmel was also on the FBI’s radar.

On February 10, 2005, undercover agents had Kimmel under surveillance as he spoke outside Marina City’s House of Blues with an informant. By commenting on a man he had seen driving one of Kimmel’s cars, the informant got Kimmel to identify Young as the pimp with whom he worked.

Another informant said women were sometimes sent to Chicago with money to give to Kimmel. Sometimes money was shipped in shoeboxes. One shoebox sent by FedEx to Kimmel contained $20,000. Another shoebox was said to contain $35,000.

In July 2005, one of the alleged prostitutes was pulled over by Michigan State Police in a new Lexus registered to Kimmel. In October, other cars owned by Kimmel were showing up in Michigan in the possession of known participants in the prostitution ring. Meanwhile, bank records obtained by the FBI showed large deposits into Kimmel’s account that could not be explained as coming from his dental practice or rental income.

FBI makes its move

On November 18, 2005, FBI agents searched Kimmel’s dental office, raided his condo unit at Marina City, and arrested Kimmel. He was processed and released that evening.

Recalled Kimmel in an October 2006 interview with Chicago Magazine, “I was getting out of the car in the parking lot at Marina City when two agents approached me and flashed their badges.” After confirming that he was Gary Kimmel, the agents told him he was under arrest for human trafficking.

Kimmel says he was told he would not go to jail if he cooperated with the FBI’s investigation of two other people, one of whom was Robert Lewis Young. According to a motion filed in April 2008, the deal was contingent on Kimmel not hiring a lawyer.

While cooperating with the investigation, Kimmel is said to have made several incriminating statements but was planning to plead guilty anyway to avoid jail time. It was Kimmel’s understanding that the more he told investigators, the less likely he was to receive a prison sentence.

As part of the deal, Kimmel was not allowed to claim the vehicles that had been seized – and when he did so, on the advice of an accountant and an attorney not experienced in criminal cases, the government dropped him as a cooperating witness.

Young, meanwhile, had his own problems. On March 15, 2007, Kimmel’s former tenant was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for running a prostitution ring.

Indictment

January 18, 2006. Gary Kimmel is indicted on charges he laundered money for a nationwide prostitution ring. He committed this crime, said the United States Attorney’s Office, when he attempted to conceal the fact that the vehicles he owned were for a pimp – by making false statements to credit companies, insurance firms, and law enforcement agencies.

The government wanted Kimmel to forfeit approximately $405,000 he was believed to have been paid to purchase and maintain vehicles used by the ring, nine condo units worth $1 million that he and his wife owned at Marina City, seven vehicles, and other items such as personal computers, and coins – gold, silver, copper, and platinum. On January 26, Kimmel pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. His attorney, Joseph Lopez, said at the time that if prostitution went on in Kimmel’s condo units, “it was without his knowledge, his consent, and it was going on behind his back.” (Left) Joseph Lopez in 2010, arriving at the Will County Courthouse for a hearing in an unrelated case.

Kimmel denied knowing the women were prostitutes. “I never made that connection in any way, shape, or form,” he told Chicago Magazine. “I knew they were escorts. That was never a question. But there is a significant difference. Escorts get hired to accompany a guy and look pretty on his arm and make him feel important. So what? There’s nothing wrong with that.”

After Kimmel was indicted, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation ordered that he immediately stop practicing dentistry. In June 2006, they indefinitely suspended his dentist’s license, for a minimum of one year, and fined him $50,000 for providing dental services to prostitutes on behalf of their pimps, assisting in the operation of an interstate prostitution ring from his dental office, billing for services not rendered, patient abandonment, failure to properly diagnose and treat periodontal disease, and advertising violations.

Kimmel’s trial at Dirksen Courthouse in downtown Chicago was scheduled for June 2, 2008. The judge would be Blanch M. Manning, age 73, who was appointed in 1994. In 1987, she was the first African-American woman appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court. She was once an attorney for United Airlines. She was also a jazz musician. (Left) Blanch M. Manning, United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois.

A court document filed on April 21, 2007 offered a glimpse of the case of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald against Kimmel. Much of the evidence would be from court-authorized wiretaps of Kimmel’s cell phone and office line. The taps included a July 2005 conversation in which Kimmel and Young, the alleged pimp who at the time rented a condo unit from Kimmel, discussed a prostitute named Kenyatta who had taken one of Kimmel’s cars without Young’s permission. Young tells Kimmel he will “cut all them legs off for you.”

Another alleged pimp, Mark Luke White (right), was recorded as saying to Kimmel, “Hey man, thanks man, I love you man, you know we goin’ to keep on...scratchin’ each other’s back,” to which Kimmel responds, “Ok, that’s good.”

Kimmel pleads guilty

On May 29, 2008, at 3:16 p.m., Gary S. Kimmel pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering. A second charge of racketeering had been dismissed.

The Marina City resident, who was caught up in a nationwide prostitution ring, explained to Judge Manning that he did not know at the start that he was doing anything wrong – but once he realized it, he did not stop.

“I rented a couple of units to unsavory characters,” he told the judge in U.S. District Court. When his tenants approached him about helping them purchase vehicles, he agreed to help but “I should have known earlier that something wasn’t right.”

When asked by Judge Manning if he was satisfied with the plea agreement that he signed, Kimmel’s voice choked with emotion as he replied, “Satisfaction is not always the way it works out, but I’ve been told it is in my best interests to proceed.” Manning quizzed Kimmel on his competency to change his plea and his understanding of the rights he was giving up. In the end, she accepted his plea and scheduled sentencing for September 25. Kimmel was flanked by his attorneys, Joseph Lopez and Paul Zido. Representing the U.S. Government was Julie Ruder (left).

“Both sides made concessions in this case,” said Lopez after the hearing. “It was a fair deal for both sides despite what others may think. This deal was the only way to dispose of this case. To go to trial would have been a disaster since [Kimmel] made admissions to the FBI agents after he was told he would not go to jail if he cooperated.”

With his dental license suspended since June 2006, Kimmel told Judge Manning he currently worked as a bank courier. When asked about his health, the 59-year-old said he had a hernia, sleep apnea, and was taking medication for high cholesterol.

The maximum penalty was 20 years in prison and a fine, which in this case could have been between $500,000 and $800,000. Preliminary sentencing guidelines called for 37 to 46 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and restitution.

Kimmel reluctantly agreed to terms of forfeiture. He would have to give up approximately $405,000 in addition to any fine. Still subject to forfeiture were the nine condo units, seven vehicles, and other property that had been seized. However, if he paid the $405,000 he would get to keep three now-combined units in which he was living – units 5617, 5618, and 5619.

Deal with prosecutors falls through

According to Lopez, Kimmel was involved not for profit but to enhance his credit rating, acting as a lien holder for alleged pimps Young and White.

“He did not realize his conduct was illegal,” said the attorney, “since the pimps used their money at grocery stores, department stores, and other businesses. Once he was in, he could not get out due to his apprehension in getting the cars back so he could sell them and payoff the notes and move on.”

Lopez said Kimmel was responsible for more than $250,000 in car loans. His client, he pointed out, did not promote the prostitution business and “contrary to rumors he did not receive the services of any escort.”

Kimmel’s deal with prosecutors turned sour when he filed claims for vehicles that had been seized, against their wishes but on the advice of his accountant and a civil lawyer. Said Lopez, “His accountant and lawyer got [Kimmel] indicted based on their negligent advice.”

Lopez said Kimmel should have consulted a federal criminal defense lawyer, but instead relied on the advice of federal agents. “I feel really bad for Doc. He got shafted by the system by not having any adequate representation by an attorney or accountant. It is what it is and he did what he did. Now the judge will do what she may.”

Sentencing

On November 20, 2008, during a hearing that lasted two and a half hours, Kimmel was sentenced to 37 months in prison, the low end of preliminary sentencing guidelines. He would have to surrender on January 16, later pushed back to March 2.

Lopez did what he could to get the lesser sentence, reminding Judge Manning that Kimmel cooperated and provided “substantial assistance” to investigators.

His lawyers portrayed him as accepting of responsibility and only guilty of lacking common sense. Said Paul Zido, “If there was a federal statute against being naive and street-dumb, you should convict him and he should get the maximum penalty.” Zido (left) pleaded for leniency for Kimmel, whose wife was living with her mother in the Philippines along with the couple’s three children. “Let him bring his family home. He deserves a chance in life. He’s had so many bad turns. You’ll never see him a courtroom again.”

Describing his client as “financially entrenched,” Zido said Kimmel owed various creditors $97,231.30. “This ‘expert’ money launderer here lost $100,000.”

He estimated the case has cost Kimmel between $600,000 and $700,000.

“I made a terrible mistake, no question about that,” Kimmel told Judge Manning. “I’m terribly sorry for what I did. I’ve ruined my life. I’ve ruined my children’s lives. I don’t know how I’m going to put them through school and an education. I don’t know how I’m going to support my family any longer. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep trying.”

Judge Manning said she was convinced that Kimmel was taking responsibility for his actions, but that he “should have had better common sense than to get involved in this type of activity.”

Kimmel would have two years of supervised release but Judge Manning waived any fine. The amount of restitution was reduced to $342,000, which Kimmel would cover by selling his condo units at Marina City.

More than three years after it was filed, the U.S. Government case against Kimmel was officially closed on January 13, 2009.

Prison Kimmel arrived at prison on March 2, 2009. At the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, he was inmate number 18445-424. Located 300 miles south of Chicago, the former “supermax” prison had been turned into a medium-security facility in 2006. The prison (left) had a minimum-security satellite camp and that is where Kimmel was assigned.

Within a month, however, Kimmel suffered a heart attack while exercising. He was taken to a hospital 50 miles south of Marion. He recovered and was back at the prison by April, with an initial release date of November 7, 2011.

On July 6, 2009, Kimmel was moved to another medium-security facility, the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. It, too, had a minimum-security prison camp. He was there to complete the federal prison system’s Residential Drug Abuse Program, which USP Marion did not have.

While awaiting trial, with his wife living with her mother in the Philippines along with the couple’s three children, Kimmel, according to his attorney, Joseph Lopez, “would just sit in his house and drink by himself.”

Upon completion of the drug program, Kimmel would get 12 months taken off his sentence. His new release date would be November 28, 2010.

The news was not all good. While in prison, Kimmel fell behind on assessments owed to Marina Towers Condominium Association. On August 10, 2009, owed $8,600 in assessments, attorney fees, and court costs, the condo association took possession of Kimmel’s three combined condo units on the 56th floor of the east tower. Though living in prison at the time, Kimmel was formally evicted from the condo units. After being shown to multiple prospective tenants, the units were rented on October 1, with the condo association allowed to apply rent payments to what Kimmel owed.

(Above) Photos by VHT of the living room, bedroom, and bathroom of Kimmel’s combined units on the 56th floor of Marina City’s east tower.

Back in Chicago In August 2010, 17 months after arriving at a minimum-security prison to serve a 37-month sentence for money laundering, Gary Kimmel had returned to Chicago. He was living at a Salvation Army location on the Near West Side – a community corrections center or what is commonly known as a “halfway house.” (Left) Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center at 506 North Desplaines Street.

The halfway house was home for Kimmel until December 3, 2010. In a motion filed the day before, Joseph Lopez said Kimmel had complied with provisions of supervised release, followed the instructions of his probation officer, had not tested positive for drugs, and paid his fines. On December 8, Judge Manning shaved a year off his supervised release. He would no longer have to check in with a probation officer.

The next month, the long, strange trip of Gary Kimmel resumed where it left off exactly five years earlier, with the former dentist and convicted money launderer residing at Marina City in an east tower unit that he used to own.

This concerned the condo board at Marina City so much that it asked its attorney for a written legal opinion about whether Kimmel could be prevented from residing at Marina City. Daniel Meyer, of O’Hagan Spencer LLC, told the board in a letter dated December 13 it does not possess means to prevent Kimmel, who was once a vice president of the condo board, from occupying any unit at Marina City, other than the three combined units the condo association was awarded possession of in 2009. Kimmel’s conviction, wrote Meyer (right), “is not, in our opinion, sufficient to render his presence on the common elements noxious, offensive, or disturbing.”

The following year, Kimmel was allowed to see his wife and children, traveling to the Philippines on March 21, 2011, and returning three weeks later. His lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said at the time Kimmel wanted to be a dentist again. Doc would first have to pay a $50,000 fine to get his license back. On December 19, 2011, the Chicago Sun Times quoted Lopez as saying, “We hope to have him back working as a dentist in no time.” (Left) Kimmel in April 2000, at a party attended by Marina City residents.

Condo board discouraged unit owner from renting to Kimmel His debt to society may have been paid but Gary Kimmel was not going to be allowed to return home to Marina City if the condo board there had any say in the matter. (Right) MTCA office at Marina City in December 2007.

While publicly declaring no legal remedies available to keep the convicted money launderer from renting at Marina City, the attorney for Marina Towers Condominium Association tried to persuade a unit owner from renting to Kimmel.

On Kimmel’s last day at the halfway house, Daniel Meyer wrote to William Balcerzak, a computer consultant who served on the condo board from 2008 to 2012.

Knowing that Balcerzak wanted to rent to Kimmel a two-bedroom east tower unit that Kimmel used to own until selling in 2005, Meyer urged Balcerzak to “consider this course of action very carefully.”

“The association has already received a strong negative reaction from the unit owners and tenants should Mr. Kimmel reoccupy a unit in the building,” wrote Meyer on December 3, 2010. “The association takes no responsibility for the conduct of any unit owner or tenant with respect to Mr. Kimmel’s reoccupation of a unit, including yours.”

Meyer warned Balcerzak that if there was any monetary harm to the association as a result of Kimmel living there, such as the tenants of his former units moving out “as a result of harassment,” the association would look to Balcerzak for remuneration “to the fullest extent permitted by the Condominium Property Act, the association’s governing documents, and any other source of remedy.”

Meyer also warned Balcerzak that media outlets were “not likely to allow Mr. Kimmel’s discharge pass without comment” and might publish his place of residence.

David Gantt (left), the residential property manager, was not sympathetic, either. Three days after Meyer’s letter was sent, he told Balcerzak in an email, “I think that Mr. Meyer’s letter covered all of the detail of potential liabilities. Sometimes a good business decision trumps a decision made out of compassion. The last I checked the Lawson YMCA charged $450 per month.”

Kimmel left Chicago and except for occasional, low-key visits, never returned. He currently resides in the Philippines with his wife and three children.