Ex-Cop Cries At Sentencing For Drug Dealer Shakedowns
DJ
Saturday, May 15, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
CHICAGO -- A former Chicago Police officer cried Friday as he read an extensive
apology prior to being sentenced to a maximum penalty of 294 months in prison
for shaking down drug dealers to steal their cash and narcotics.
Mario Morales, 35, of Chicago, told the court he was a drug addict and
alcoholic when he used his position as a Chicago Police officer to shake down
drug dealers.
"I am not that person anymore," Morales told U.S. District Judge Matthew
Kennelly.
Morales said he prayed much and began a relationship with God. "I believe God
no longer wanted me to be a police officer," he said.
"I have peace in my heart, but that does not make me innocent," Morales said.
He apologized for his actions to the court, the Police Department, his friends
and family, particularly his 5-year-old son, 2-year-old daughter and
2-month-old son.
Kennelly acknowledged Morales made a positive difference in people's lives,
citing the 8th-grade students he taught while substituting at the Chicago
Public Schools after leaving the Chicago Police Department.
But, Kennelly added, Morales showed himself to be a "gangster" when he
committed the violations.
Kennelly sentenced Morales to the high end of the penalty range of 252 to 294
months incarceration
In addition, Morales was directed to serve 5 years on supervised release.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of racketeering
conspiracy and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime.
He said in a plea agreement with prosecutors he conspired with co- defendants
James O'Neill, Gerald Cooper and others to shake down drug dealers and steal
their money and drugs from May to June 2001.
Morales told the judge he was working security at a nightclub when he met a
couple of his co-defendants.
Morales, Cooper, O'Neill and an individual only identified as Person G agreed
to steal drugs and money from Person A's residence in the 4900 block of South
Tripp Avenue, according to the plea.
After seeing Persons G and A leave the residence on May 12, 2001, Morales and
O'Neill entered the building while Cooper remained in the vehicle, the plea
said. Morales was armed and wearing his police badge around his neck during the
robbery.
They discovered several duffel bags containing more than 100 kilograms of
marijuana and more than $10,000 cash inside the residence. They removed the
duffel bags and the money, which Morales stashed inside a pillowcase, and put
them inside two vehicles.
The defendants divided the drugs at Morales' home, and Morales took the
pillowcase with cash to his bedroom, the plea said. He had O'Neill sell his
share of the drugs.
In June 2001, Morales participated in two more drug and money searches, both
times using his position as a Chicago Police officer to gain entry into the two
residences. He did not find any drugs or money in either of those searches.
Morales also participated with O'Neill, Cooper, Ivan Madorin and Kevin Kane in
the attempted kidnapping of Person E in order to obtain the location where he
stored his drugs and money, according to the plea.
He told the judge he was introduced to Kane by a lawyer friend who knew the
defendants were involved in illegal activity.
Prosecutors would not comment on the man Morales mentioned in court and they
would not say whether the investigation in the case was ongoing.
Madorin arranged to purchase one-half pound of marijuana from Person E at a
7-Eleven store at Touhy and California avenues on June 23, 2001, according to
the plea.
After the drug deal, Morales pulled over Person E's vehicle. Wearing his police
badge around his neck and with his firearm drawn, Morales placed Person E's
hands in plastic restraints and moved the individual to a nearby van containing
O'Neill, Cooper and Kane.
When the van door opened, Person E began struggling and yelling. Cooper drove
the van away and Person E fled the scene on foot, the plea said.
Morales also stipulated in the plea to attempting to extort O'Neill in
September 2001 for $5,000 to protect O'Neill from physical harm by the Latin
Kings street gang.
Cooper, O'Neill, Madorin and Kane all pleaded guilty to their roles in the
scheme.
Kennelly was scheduled to sentence the four men on May 21.
Morales served as a Chicago Police officer for about 5 years before he left the
department and taught in the Chicago Public Schools for about a year. He had
been working as an investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services prior to his incarceration following his guilty plea.
"The gravest abuse of power - and the gravest threats to personal liberty and
security - are those in which the very individuals to whom we look for the
preservation of law and order turn out to be the predators."
Law Dawg
"The demand of the hour in America is for jurors with conscience, judges
with courage, and prisons which are neither country clubs nor health
resorts. It is not the criminals, actual or potential, that need a
neuropathic hospital; it is the people who slobber over them in an
effort to find excuses for their crime."
Judge Alfred J. Talley