One current and three former Chicago police officers were charged Thursday with federal civil rights violations in a case that involves shaking down suspected drug dealers and others, federal prosecutors said.
CHICAGO (AP) — One current and three former Chicago police officers were charged Thursday with federal civil rights violations in a case that involves shaking down suspected drug dealers and others, federal prosecutors said.
The men are charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights and accused of presenting false information and testimony to conceal illegal searches during which cash was stolen, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. All four were once members of a now disbanded elite unit called Special Operations Section.
The accused include Jerome Finnigan, who also faces a previous charge for allegedly planning the murder-for-hire of a former fellow officer who was a potential witness against him. The other three defendants were charged with federal crimes for the first time Thursday.
The charges mark another dark chapter in the case of an elite Chicago Police Department unit whose members were accused of barging into homes and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug dealers and others.
Several former officers who were members of the unit have pleaded guilty in state court to charges. They admitted shaking down people for money, with one acknowledging he withheld insulin form a diabetic man until the man told them where to find cash.
According to federal authorities, Finnigan’s share of money stolen during arrests and searches in 2004 and 2005 totaled approximately $200,000. Another former officer charged, Keith Herrear, allegedly netted $40,000 in 2005.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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