You don't have to be black — only politically connected — for Kim Foxx to let you off easy.  In an outrageous abuse of office, the Cook County state's attorney let a felon, who had a hit-and-run accident and was videotaped at the scene apparently claiming to be a police officer and staggering as if drunk, walk away with no jail time.  The only penalty: a $500 fine, $400 in court costs, attendance at a victim impact training, and 12 months of "conditional discharge" — meaning he must stay out of legal trouble.  Not even probation.

Fox 32 screen grab.

Larry Yellin of Fox 32 Chicago lays out the basic facts:

Twice-convicted former city employee John Boyle admitted Monday to his involvement in a hit-and-run accident two years ago.

The incident was caught on camera by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. She says the plea deal worked out with State's Attorney Kimm Foxx's prosecutors lets Boyle off too easy. ...

Mendoza got cellphone video of a driver leaving an accident scene. She didn't learn until later that it was Boyle. She says the video suggests Boyle was drunk and posed as a police officer.

"The guy did a lot of things on that video that could have led to additional charges," said Mendoza. 

Even though she wasn't a victim herself, Mendoza attended every one of Boyle's pretrial hearings, and she showed up Monday not knowing that a plea deal was in the works.     

"The video speaks for itself, and I would have liked for that video to lead the state's attorney's office to upgrade charges against Mr. Boyle," said Mendoza.

State's Attorney Foxx's spokesperson told us, "...the evidence related to this case and the law did not support a felony charge."

Unless you are familiar with the Chicago Machine, the name John Boyle may not ring any bells.  He is the kind of character who gets a bitterly funny nickname, "Quarters" Boyle. The great John Kass of the Chicago Tribune explains who he is:

Quarters Boyle isn't a TV star like Jussie Smollett.  He doesn't have Obama Celebrity Friends to ask Foxx for help so they could share OMG moments and actually type OMG.

No, Quarters Boyle isn't an OMG kind of guy.  But he was a boss of the notorious Chicago Way political crew called the Coalition for Better Government.

He's also a twice-convicted felon who once stole millions of quarters from the Tollway.

When Boyle got out of prison for the quarters caper, he was given a clout-heavy City Hall job in the administration of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Quarters brokered trucking contracts in the infamous Hired Truck scandal.  Quarters was convicted on corruption charges and went away again.

His brother, Jeffrey "Matches" Boyle, is a former Chicago Fire Department lieutenant who was convicted of arson.

Their story would make a great TV show, shot in those West Side TV studios where Smollett's show, "Empire," is made.  I'd cast Chicago's own John C. Reilly as Quarters, Steve Buscemi as Matches and Zoe Saldana as Kim Foxx.

Yes, it is colorful and funny, but it is awful, too.  If you are rich, famous, or connected, no matter how scummy you are — a recidivist felon — you get to walk away with a slap on the wrist for the kind of behavior that would rate multiple counts and probably prison time for an ordinary Joe or Jane.

There are consequences, as the streets of Chicago become anarchic when school's out and the weather is good:

"If there's no consequences to criminal acts you're going to see an increase in criminal acts," said Alderman Brian Hopkins.

Hopkins, whose second ward includes part of North Michigan Avenue, says it's clear looking at social media that the teens flooding downtown last night are emboldened by new policies by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who has declined to prosecute many low level crimes like shoplifting and theft.

"You don't even get a slap on the wrist anymore.  You get a ride home.  So that's happening in increasing numbers and it's disturbing and it has implications for the downtown area, where retailers are seeing their shrinkage rates from theft increase dramatically," Hopkins said.

Police say no one was injured Wednesday night and they continue to monitor social media for future wildings.

"It's the Chicago way."