Federal Trial of Former Chicago Cop Reveals Planting of Evidence

We note with interest a criminal trial in the Federal District Court in Chicago in which a former Chicago police officer, Mahmoud Shamah, is charged with using his office to steal. During the trial. there has been testimony from a former partner of Shamah that officers carried crack cocaine to plant on suspects when searches came up empty and stole money from suspected drug dealers during arrests and traffic stops. There has even been testimony that money was paid to a Circuit Court judge to sign off on a fake search warrant. The identity of the judge was not revealed. The underlying charges are that Shamah and his partner stole approximately $30,000 from a storage locker in a police facility. Apparently, the money had been planted by the FBI as part of a sting operation. There has been testimony from Shamah's former partner that it was easy to steal money from drug dealers because they usually had no idea how much cash they had on them and they couldn't complain to anyone. The officer testified about how they would "plant" drugs on suspects when searches came up empty. The drugs that they would carry to plant on suspects were described as "insurance drugs."

This is not the first time we have reported about the planting of evidence and framing of criminal defendants. On September 10, 2008, we reported about another Chicago police officer that was charged with planting a gun and drugs in the car of a friend's wife so that they may set her up. The wife was subsequently arrested as a result of the planted evidence but was found not guilty at trial. A subsequent investigation revealed that the guns and drugs had been planted in the car by a Chicago police officer to help his friend, the estranged husband of the woman.

The trial of Shamah is pending at the Dirksen Federal Building.

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