Chicago’s storied history of corruption tends to keep its U.S. attorneys busy, and Fardon certainly isn’t getting shortchanged. His office recently nabbed former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert and on-the-take ex–CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett; it was the first in the nation to drop the hammer on a “spoofer,” a trader who cheated millions of small investors by using technology to manipulate stock prices. Fardon personally prosecuted John Bills, second in command in the city’s transportation department, in the Redflex red-light camera case. As the top federal law enforcement officer in town, Fardon is sure to also play a big role in the Department of Justice’s probe of Chicago police abuses. And if drug kingpin El Chapo is ever extradited, he, too, may end up one day in Fardon’s House.