State Sen. Martin Sandoval has resigned as chairman of the powerful Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, weeks after federal authorities raided Sandoval’s home and offices as part of an ongoing corruption probe.

As the Sandoval scandal develops, Illinoisans should be careful not to confuse personnel changes for reform.

Federal raids on the home and offices of state Sen. Martin Sandoval were followed by raids on several suburban village offices in his senate district. Sandoval and at least three others being investigated are connected to a red-light camera company, which has denied wrongdoing.

The lawmaker who carried to the governor’s desk an infrastructure plan that doubled the state’s gas tax used his influence as a powerful state lawmaker to land his son a government job, a lawsuit alleges.

Federal agents raided the offices of three suburban villages, including one governed by a mayor who doubles as a Cook County commissioner. All three are in the district of state Sen. Martin Sandoval, also the subject of a federal raid.

The target, state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, is as clouted as they come.

A fourth political ally of Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has become the latest target of an ongoing federal investigation.