FBI Sting Brings Down Corrupt Cops

Illinois Police Officers Allegedly Guarded Drug Shipments, Protected Gamblers

(CBS/AP)  Duffel bags stuffed with cocaine were delivered by plane to a suburban airport in the U.S. state of Illinois while two sheriff's officers provided security.

A police officer stood by to guard the cash and keep out the riffraff at a poker game where $100,000 changed hands.

And a drug dealer was told squad cars marked "sheriff" and "sheriff's police" might be available on a "freelance" basis to provide protection for his deliveries.

Such tales of law enforcement gone awry emerged in court papers Tuesday as U.S. federal prosecutors unveiled a series of elaborate sting operations aimed at officers hired out to ride shotgun for drug deals and other criminal activities.

Fifteen officers and two other men who had pretended to be law enforcement officials were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine or heroin or both.

But the most spectacular pretending was done by the federal agents themselves.

The pilots of the airplane were not drug runners but undercover agents. So were the gamblers who busily played hand after hand of high-stakes poker - all for show.

The drug broker who squired the officers to the airport to pick up the duffel bags was an agent. So was the drug dealer who stuffed the bags into his Mercedes-Benz.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said he was dismayed to find that so many law enforcement officers had "sold out their badge."

"When drug dealers deal drugs, they ought to be afraid of the police - not turn to them for help," Fitzgerald said at a news conference.

Officials paid homage to an unnamed FBI agent who moved into a business in Harvey more than a year ago and set up shop as a drug broker. He soon attracted the attention of police and the corruption grew, authorities said.

They said the agent was sent in undercover because there had been reports of police corruption over the last several years in southern Cook County, including the Harvey Police Department, which has been the target of a number of investigations by state police in the past few years, reports CBS affiliate WBBM-TV in Chicago. Those investigations involved a number of suspiciously unsolved murders, and, in a celebrated incident, the mysterious disappearance of a gun police had been holding as evidence in one case.

An investigation into allegations of robbery, extortion, narcotics offenses and weapons distribution is ongoing, officials said.

Those charged include 10 Cook County sheriff's correctional officers, four Harvey police officers and one Chicago police officer.

Of the 17 defendants, 14 were arrested or surrendered Tuesday and were being immediately brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason. Two sheriff's officers are on active duty with Army National Guard units in Afghanistan, and warrants were issued for their arrest.

If convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine or 2.2 pound of heroin, the defendants would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life. The maximum fine would be $4 million.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called the alleged behavior "absolutely reprehensible."

Each of those charged has been suspended with pay pending a hearing next week, Dart said. "That step will then lead to a request for termination."

[fredflinsto2]

Dirty cops normally will kill themselves before going to jail.


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Posted by misogynist10 at 03:34 PM : Dec 04, 2008

If that was true, NC would not have very many cops left since most here are as corrupt as they come

[misogynist10]

Dirty cops normally will kill themselves before going to jail.

[honestabe8]

"Atleast crime doesnt pay in this part of the world" This is why there are no criminals here. It doesn''t pay. Organized crime does their thing just for the fun of it.

[abdulli-2009]

Atleast crime doesnt pay in this part of the world, we have system, justice and laws. You havent experienced third world country like Tanzania. Cops in any uniform are like mafia kings, there the innocent are the criminals and the criminals are innocent ie power of money. So lets all thank the American justice .

[ludvig1-2009]

Continued - Bro-in-law robbed by cops in Chicago. He jokingly said "You can make money at this", returned to his native country and became a cop.

According to local paper, cop in this town slugged woman in bar and then told DA to charge husband with slugging her, but video from bar showed him slugging her. Cop not fired according to paper. No honor code for local cops. "I will not lie, cheat or steal nor will I tolerate those among us those who do." Bunch of goons. I boycot the town I live in, can''t buy an American made car, because if I do, I pay the PIG tax they voted in.

[ludvig1-2009]

My exp. with cops - Cop comes up to investigate stolen boat motors, & says it must have been those ******* that were camped out. Dad tells him there weren''t any. He says people in school bus camped there said there was.

Visiting mom in MO. Car stopped & searched 2 times by MOHP as Cal license plates = drugs.

Doctor says lose weight or get diabetes, took up walking and biking. Biking down street, cop takes my picture like he thought this 13 gallon blood donor was public enemy number one. I got mad as when I was in college a kid insisted I was his high school chemistry even though I told him I wasn''t. Two weeks later, decoy car put in my walking path, ignored it. Senile volunteers sic''d on me as a few days later one of them hiding behind a truck watched me walk laps around the park moved and hid elsewhere when I walked in his direction. Next they dropped a bag labelled "Medical" perfectly centered on my driveway parking a block down the street and picked it up when I ignored it. I guess they thought I''d look in the bag and find Med. Marijuana, take it in my house and they could kick my door down and shoot my basset hound in the back the way they shot the mayor''s two black labs in the back in Maryland. Retired Nuc.
Engr. 13 gal. blood donor a lot more but 1500 char limit.

[memerider]

Time to make drugs legal and control their distribution so they are safer.

And this points to the reality that we don''t want only the cops and military to be armed, since they are just as likely to be corrupt as any other citizens. This also points to why we need to regain the rights we''ve lost as a result of our leaders turning a blind eye to our second amendment over the years.

[sonofapundit]

Eazy-E said it best... right?

[alanzs]

Time to legalize drugs and end the never to be won war on drugs. Why waste billions on this futile prohibition?

[eddom949]

I wonder if they could sting the Irvine police: "I''m not an officer... I''m an officer - badge number ***!"