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2 Chicago police officers arrested, accused of stealing drug proceeds
CHICAGO, Feb 13, 2012 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) --
He appeared to be an easy mark _ a homeless man with almost 100 arrests.
So the drug dealers used him to move their cash around from spot to spot. And two Chicago police officers used him, too. But instead of working him for information to get to the bad guys, the cops stole drug proceeds from the courier and then paid him for tipping them off to the opportunity, according to federal charges unsealed Monday.
What the two veteran officers, Sgt. Ronald Watts and Officer Kallatt Mohammed, didn't know until their arrests Sunday night was that it was all a sting set up by the FBI.
"Never doubt brother ... Who always takes care of you?" a criminal complaint quoted one of the officers telling the FBI informant in an undercover recording as he paid him his cut for helping to rip off what the officers thought was a drug dealer.
On Monday Watts, 48, an 18-year police veteran, and Mohammed, 47, who has 14 years with the department, appeared in federal court with their hands cuffed on a charge of theft of government funds. With the agreement of prosecutors, both were released on their own recognizance.
As the two Wentworth District tactical unit officers left the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, they took off running in a bid to elude cameramen and photographers. But in an odd moment, plainclothes Chicago police officers briefly stopped Mohammed to question why he was running downtown.
Chicago police said Watts and Mohammed have been stripped of their police powers and suspended without pay pending the outcome of the federal investigation. The department's Internal Affairs Division assisted the FBI in the undercover investigation, authorities said.
Just last month, Watts was elected financial secretary of the police sergeants' association after running unopposed for the union post, said Sgt. Jim Ade, its president. The union will seek Watts' resignation, according to Ade.
Robert Kuzas, Watts' attorney, said he was the father of three grown children and had served in the U.S. Army.
"Ron has an unblemished record with the police department," he said. "These are unfortunate allegations."
The criminal complaint identifies the key informant in the case as homeless and living on the streets of Chicago. The individual has a lengthy criminal record _ 99 arrests and 16 convictions, many for drug offenses. According to the complaint, the informant has been paid $3,250 by the FBI for his undercover work.
The complaint said the same informant took part in "multiple FBI covert operations" in which Watts and Mohammed allegedly stole drug proceeds, but the charges detail only one alleged theft last November.
FBI agents built the case off the informant's relationship with Watts. According to the complaint, Watts had known the informant for several years and had stopped him many times to talk to him about his work as a drug courier.
The informant agreed to wear a secret wire, and the government also tracked several phone calls between the two officers to piece together their case.
On Nov. 18, the informant called Watts to tip him off that he would be transporting some cash the following Monday, telling him, "I got one going on," according to the charges
"Make sure you call me," the government quoted Watts as responding.
The following Monday afternoon, the informant called Watts to tell him about the pickup of cash, prosecutors alleged. Four minutes later Watts called Mohammed, according to phone records cited by prosecutors.
A little over an hour later, in an exchange caught by FBI agents on surveillance, Mohammed picked up a bag with $5,200 _ and a hidden tracking device _ from the informant. But he allegedly failed to share any of the cash with the informant.
"Sir, can I get some money, sir," the informant pleaded. "Hey, hey I thought you was going to give me some money."
Mohammed told the informant to "get the (expletive) out of here."
Minutes later, Mohammed and Watts met at another location. Some 20 minutes after that, agents recovered the bag with the tracking device about a half mile from that location.
The informant then met up with Watts near a Walgreens.
"Who always takes care of you?" Watts allegedly said.
"You do, Watts," the informant responded.
Prosecutors allege Watts then handed the informant $400 cash.
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(c)2012 the Chicago Tribune
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