Shamah Sentenced to 19 Years

Today, Mahmoud (Mike) Shamah was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for robberies of drug dealers he committed while he was a Chicago police officer. On Wednesday we reported that Shamah's partner, Richard Doroniuk was sentenced to 11 years for his part in the crimes. Shamah and Doroniuk would rob drug dealers of their money and would plant evidence on motorists they suspected as being drug dealers. There was also evidence introduced at their trial that a sitting judge was bribed by them. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said he hoped the sentence would send a message to Chicago police officers and restore the public's faith in the police. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines called for a minimum of 24 years in prison but Judge Gettleman thought that was too harsh and imposed a lower sentence. Shamah and Doronuik were originally nabbed by the FBI when they were caught stealing what they thought was real money from an inventory locker. As part of the sentence, Shamah will be required to repay $1,780 in money stolen from the robberies of the drug dealers and $7,000 from a storage locker at the police department. Shamah will be required to report to a federal penitentiary on August 10, 2009.

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