Bad Cop's Bad Partner Helps Convict Him

Chicago sting leads to conviction of former Chicago police officer

In the wake of what may be the largest FBI bust of law enforcement officers on Tuesday, a former Chicago policeman has been convicted of conspiracy in connection with the shakedown of local drug dealers.

Mahmoud Shamah, 29, was also accused of working with his partner, Richard Doroniuk, to raid a storage locker in 2006 and steal $30,000. The money was placed there by the FBI as part of a sting operation, and the theft was videotaped.

The jury watched grainy images from undercover video of the two Morgan Park District tactical officers sifting through the storage locker, the Chicago Tribune reported last month.

Doroniuk testified during Shamah's trial before U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman that police officers regularly carried crack to plant on suspects, paid informants for dubious information and even bribed a judge to approve an arrest warrant. 

The Tribune reported that Shamah's partner wore a wiretap for the feds and captured a conversation in which the two agreed to take $100 each out of $420 they had seized from a suspect in a traffic stop.

Federal prosecutors moved to have Shamah's bail revoked, arguing that since he faces a lengthy sentence, he poses a flight risk, but the judge disagreed and allowed the convicted cop to remain free until sentencing.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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