CHICAGO — Former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke famously spent decades at the pinnacle of the city’s political power structure, but on Monday he’ll officially earn a new, rather inglorious title.

Federal inmate No. 53698-424.

Burke, 80, must check himself into the low security federal prison camp at Terre Haute, Indiana, by 2 p.m. to begin serving his two-year sentence on a corruption case that sent shockwaves through the political establishment and tanked Burke’s record run as the city’s longest-serving alderman.

The camp, which houses about 260 male inmates, is situated 180 miles due south of Chicago. While no official release date has been set, under federal rules, Burke must serve 85 percent of the 24-month term, which means with good behavior he’d be out sometime in May 2026, when he would be 82.

Once released, Burke will serve a year on court-ordered supervision. He must also pay $65,000 in restitution to the owners of the Burger King franchise he was convicted of shaking down, as well as a $2 million fine imposed by U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall.

Even in a state that has seen countless politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, handed prison terms for corruption, Burke trading in his trademark pinstriped suits for jail garb marks a turn of events many would have considered unconceivable just a handful of years ago.

Of all the aldermen, county commissioners, state representatives, senators, governors and even a former speaker of the U.S. House to land behind bars, perhaps none wielded so much power for so long as Burke, the head of the vaunted Finance Committee, who not only worked the city’s purse strings but also was a shrewd ward boss, political tactician and judicial slate-maker.

Burke, one of the last vestiges of the old Democratic political machine, was convicted by a jury in December of racketeering conspiracy, bribery and attempted extortion in a series of schemes to use his considerable City Hall clout to try and win business from developers for his private property tax law firm.

Among them were efforts to woo the New York-based developers of the $600 million renovation of the Old Post Office, extorting the Texas owners of the Burger King, who were seeking to renovate a restaurant in Burke’s 14th Ward, and intervening on behalf of a developer in Portage Park who wanted help getting the pole sign approved for a new Binny’s Beverage Depot location.

Burke was also found guilty of threatening to hold up a fee increase for the Field Museum because he was angry the museum had ignored an internship application from his goddaughter, who is the daughter of former 32nd Ward Ald. Terry Gabinski, Burke’s longtime friend.

In handing Burke the relatively light prison term, Kendall cited the dozens of letters she received from citizens of all walks of life extolling Burke’s acts of kindness and charity, even when they had nothing to do with his role as alderman.

The relatively limited period of criminal conduct for which Burke was convicted at trial does not wipe away those decades of good works, Kendall said.

The judge also saved some criticism for the U.S. attorney’s office for its unprecedented deferred prosecution agreement with former Ald. Daniel Solis, who wore a wire against Burke and others and was rewarded with a deal that will keep him even having a conviction on his record — let alone serving jail time.

“It is uncomfortable for me to see that when the government steps up and says you must send a strong message” to elected officials, that Solis has been allowed to skate, she said.

The judge did agree with prosecutors, however, that courts have to deter other public officials from thinking of going down the same path as Burke, saying political corruption leads to “part of this erosion, part of this chipping away at our democracy, really whittling away at our rule of law.”

“When citizens lose faith (in their public officials) they begin to take the law into their own hands,” she said. “If a citizen starts thinking ‘Oh that’s just the Chicago Way,’ that’s when we’re eroding it.”

In addition to the time behind bars, Kendall levied a stiff $2 million fine, saying in her estimation the financial penalties for politicians who engage in corruption should be far higher and noting the money will go to help victims of crime in which the defendants are not as wealthy as Burke.

“I think that really does send a message, if you want to commit public corruption by being greedy, then the disgorgement of your own funds will go toward the people,” Kendall said.

Before he was sentenced, Burke read an uncharacteristically brief statement to the court, saying he’d been blessed with a long career and was sorry to “see it end like this.” Then he asked the judge for mercy.

“Whatever amount of time God has decided to leave me on this earth, I’d like to spend as much of it as possible with my devoted wife, my wonderful children and grandchildren,” Burke said.

Terre Haute was actually Burke’s second choice of places to serve out his sentence. His attorneys first requested the prison camp in Oxford, Wisconsin, a facility that had seen so many Chicago-area politicians serve time it was jokingly referred to as “going to college.”

The request was altered, however, because the Oxford camp was closed by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons earlier this year.

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