Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 10:26:29 -0400
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: Chicago Officers Guilty In Shakedowns [But What's the Punishment?]
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[Note from Matthew Gaylor: I happened to be in downtown Chicago on 
Tuesday, August 14 and per my normal custom I usually read the local 
newspaper, in this case "The Chicago Tribune".  On the front page of 
the paper that day is the below story.  What struck me amidst the 
beauty of Michigan Avenue (Chicago has planted numerous flowers on 
the roadways), the vibrant and busy shopping district and amazingly 
gorgeous women is the sad fact that Chicago has not been able to 
shake it's dark underbelly.  This story is a case in point-  Chicago 
Police Officers are caught on video stealing money out of people's 
wallets while threatening them and they get the theft charges dropped 
and just receive probation, albeit they lose their jobs and pensions. 
What would happen if you went out on the town with a pistol on your 
belt and robbed people?  I'd say 10 to 25 in a maximum security 
prison sounds about right, not a proverbial slap on the wrist.]


http://chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0108140213aug14.story

From the Chicago Tribune

Officers guilty in shakedowns

Polish immigrant sting ensnares 2
By Janan Hanna and Eric Ferkenhoff
Tribune staff reporters

August 14, 2001

Two veteran Chicago police officers were sentenced to probation 
Monday after pleading guilty to shaking down undercover federal 
agents who were posing as Polish immigrants and pretended to be drunk 
as they walked out of bars and clubs. The guilty pleas from Officers 
Steven G. Miller, 56, and William Tortoriello, 51, came as new 
details emerged in court documents about what happened outside a club 
on the Northwest Side that formed the foundation of the case against 
the officers.

According to the documents, the officers approached the agents, 
posing as patrons of the club, asked for identification and then took 
hundreds of dollars from them. The undercover operation by federal 
authorities and police internal affairs investigators was launched 
amid widespread complaints from Polish immigrants that they had been 
systematically victimized by police. Many of the victims were 
reluctant to cooperate with state and federal authorities, who had 
captured numerous shakedowns and shakedown attempts on video, said 
Assistant State's Atty. Nancy Donahoe.

"Can we blame them," one police investigator familiar with the case 
said. "One day the police are robbing you, the next day they want to 
talk to you." Authorities said nine officers were targeted, though 
only four were charged. Two other officers, James Petruzzi, 48, and 
Michael Simpson, 52, are awaiting trial, and prosecutors said the 
investigation is continuing. One police officer under investigation 
committed suicide last November.

Probation and fines

Under the terms of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, the two 
officers were each sentenced to serve 30 months' probation and 
ordered to pay $1,000 in fines by Cook County Circuit Judge Mary 
Ellen Coghlan. Official misconduct carries a maximum sentence of 5 
years in prison. In exchange for the guilty pleas, theft charges were 
dismissed against the officers. Donahoe said prosecutors considered 
the fact that the officers will lose their pensions and will never be 
able to work as police officers in agreeing to the deal.

The case against the officers followed a nearly three-year probe that 
was cut short when two Jefferson Park officers--apparently 
unconnected to the probe--discovered surveillance equipment in two 
police vehicles in the Northwest Side police district. Sources have 
said many of the same officers had come under investigation for 
similar crimes while they worked together in the neighboring 
Grand-Central District. But that probe stopped, apparently after the 
officers learned of the investigation.

Investigators familiar with the federal probe said the officers 
likely stole thousands of dollars running shakedown scams over the 
past several years. They said some of the money was spent on gambling 
trips and recreational boats. Miller and Tortoriello are not expected 
to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, said defense lawyer Terry 
Gillespie, who represented both officers. "There was no deal that in 
exchange for their plea they would cooperate," Gillespie. "They just 
took their medicine. They bit the bullet and they're going on with 
their lives." He characterized the conduct of his clients as 
aberrations during otherwise unblemished careers.

No conspiracy alleged Both Gillespie and Donahoe said the federal and 
state probe has not produced evidence that the police officers--those 
charged and those under investigation--were operating in concert, 
conspiring to defraud immigrants in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. 
But to many in the Polish American community, the officers' conduct 
smacked of an organized effort to target vulnerable new immigrants 
who feared retribution if they complained about being robbed.

Police have said some of the victims were threatened with deportation 
if they didn't turn over cash or jewelry to the officers. "Obviously 
this is an issue that was much greater than just stopping an 
individual and asking for some money," Les Kuczynski, general counsel 
at the Polish National Alliance and national executive director of 
the Polish American Congress, said Monday. "Obviously this was 
against the Polish community in a district that had a lot of 
immigrants, a lot of fear that the police were not there to protect 
and serve, but rather to take advantage. ... It's not a rogue police 
officer taking advantage of one citizen; it was a concerted effort."

Court documents filed in the case reveal that Miller and Tortoriello 
brazenly abused their power to confront and interrogate the suspected 
Polish immigrants. The Cardinal Club At 4:30 a.m. on March 12, 2000, 
Tortoriello targeted FBI Special Agent George Ragus, who was posing 
as a patron at the Cardinal Club, 5155 W. Belmont Ave. As Ragus left 
the club and began stumbling toward his car, Tortoriello asked him 
where he was going and whether he was in any condition to drive, 
according to court records. Tortoriello then requested identification 
from Ragus, grabbed his wallet, inspected his driver's license and 
removed $280. Tortoriello kept $100, told Ragus to put the rest of 
the money in his pocket, and then placed Ragus in a squad car and 
drove him to the address listed on his license. In a similar fashion, 
Miller confronted Special Agent Milan Momcilovic on April 9, 2000, as 
he emerged from the Cardinal Club. After Miller grabbed his wallet, 
Momcilovic told Miller that he was planning to use the money in his 
wallet to buy a new car for his grandmother in Milwaukee, according 
to court documents. Miller took $200.

The same agent was stopped 30 minutes later, this time by 
Tortoriello, who questioned Momcilovic about whether he used drugs, 
according to court records. After asking for identification, 
Tortoriello took $300 from Momcilovic's wallet and sent him on his 
way, cautioning him to be careful. As Momcilovic began walking away 
from the officer, he was groping in his pockets and told the officer 
he was looking for his money. Tortoriello approached Momcilovic and 
returned the money, placing the $300 in Momcilovic's back pocket.

With their guilty pleas, Miller, who resigned from the force late 
last year, and Tortoriello, who resigned earlier this year, have 
forfeited an estimated $500,000 each in pension benefits and will not 
be permitted to work in law enforcement again, police and prosecutors 
said. "Their pensions are history, they're through," said police 
spokesman Pat Camden. Police officials noted that any officer 
convicted of a state felony charge automatically loses pension 
benefits.

A conviction in federal court does not result in the same automatic loss.

Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune

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