FILE – In this May, 8, 2013 file photo, Illinois Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, speaks at the Capitol in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — A former longtime Illinois state legislator has pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.

Former Sen. Terry Link appeared in Chicago’s federal court Wednesday via video.

The Democrat who first took office in 1997 resigned last week. He’s the latest state legislator to be charged in the federal government’s ongoing criminal investigations into public corruption in Illinois. Link is accused of under-reporting his income from 2012 to 2016. Under preliminary sentencing guidelines, Link would face up to 16 months in prison. But federal prosecutors intend to recommend probation if Link fully cooperates with the government.