12 Years In Prison For Crooked Cop

Jerome Finnigan, who federal prosecutors called one of Chicago's dirtiest cops, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for a murder for hire plot that targeted a fellow cop because the fellow cop was cooperating with  investigators.  Finnigan has been in isolation in the Metropolitan Correction Facility in downtown Chicago for the past 4 years.  He was the alleged ringleader of a Chicago Police Unit that used to be called the Special Operations Section.  The Special Operations Section was specifically created to target known drug dealers throughout the City of Chicago.  Finnigan and his crew would raid homes without warrants, conducted illegal traffic stops and shook down drug dealers and innocent citizens.  Authorities have linked about $600,000 in money stolen in robberies and allege that Finnigan received at least $200,000 of that money.  Another officer recorded Finnigan planning the murder of a fellow police officer that he suspected of cooperating with authorities.  Previously, Finngan allegedly threatened to harm a Cook County prosecutor who was prosecuting him for a corruption charge.

With credit for the time he has already spent in federal custody, Finnigan may be released from federal prison as early as 2018.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.  

Cook County Expands Tickets For Low Level Drug Offenses

Yesterday, the Cook County Board took a big step in an effort to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. In 2009 the Cook County Board passed an ordinance which provided for the issuance of tickets for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. But recently, various news outlets reported that zero tickets had been issued. The 2009 measure only applied to unincorporated areas of Cook County that were being patrolled by the Cook County Sheriff. The new measure includes areas in which the Cook County Sheriff provides primary law enforcement duties, such as south suburban Ford Heights. The Cook County Sheriff's office now reports that they are ready to write tickets for the possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana pursuant to the measure passes yesterday by the Cook County Board. The President of the Cook County Board, Tony Perwinkle, has come out strong in favor of decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. She points to the high cost of keeping offenders in jail until they go to their preliminary hearing, where most such cases are dismissed anyway. It costs about $143 a day to keep an inmate in Cook County Jail. Perwinkle has stated that she will help lead an effort to have the Illinois legislature pass a similar measure throughout the State of Illinois.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Cook County Deals Blow to Feds

The Cook County Board has dealt a blow to the Federal Government when it comes to requests to detain people in Cook County jail who are facing misdemeanor charges.  The action by the Cook County Board follows a recent federal court case in which it was held that requests by the federal government to place immigration holds on defendants for possible deportation were merely requests and were not mandatory.  The Cook County Board pointed out that the cost to Cook County taxpayers is roughly $15 million per year, or roughly $143 per day per inmate to comply with these immigration hold requests by the federal government.  The decision only applies to individuals charged with misdemeanors who have immigration holds placed against them and are released from Cook County Jail for any reason.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Illinois Death Row Shut Down

With the passing of the calendar, Illinois's Death Row has officially died itself.  In March, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a law which ended the Death Penalty in Illinois.  Today was the day that Death Row was set to be shut down.  In 2000, then Illinois Governor, George Ryan, put a moratorium on the Death Penalty.  Three years later, he cleared Death Row when he commuted the death sentences of 167 inmates convicted of murder and sentenced to death to life.  However, prosecutors throughout the state continued to seek the death penalty hoping that Ryan's moratorium would be lifted.  It never was.  In March of this year, Governor Quinn signed a law which abolished the Death Penalty in Illinois.  The last time Illinois carried out the Death Penalty was in 1999.  A total of 12 men were put to death in Illinois since 1997.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Crime Rate Drops Nationwide Except In 3 Illinois Towns

Three major Illinois cities are the exception to the national trend of dropping crime rates.  Nationwide, there was a drop of 5.5 percent drop in the number of violent crimes according to figures released by the FBI.  The nationwide drop in property crimes was 2.8 percent.  Violent crime in Chicago dropped 11 percent from 2009 to 2010.  Property crimes dropped by less than one percent.  However, Rockford, Joliet and Elgin all reported significant increases in violent crimes and increases in property crimes.  Rockford had a 10 percent increase in violent crimes, Joliet 9 percent and Elgin 8 percent.  Rockford had the highest rate of violent crime per capita, with 14 violent crimes occurring for every 1,000 residents.  And for every thousand residents, Rockford had 50 property crimes.  Chicago had 42 property crimes per 1,000 residents.  And even in Chicago, even though violent crimes dropped by 11 percent, there were still 10 violent crimes for every 1,000 residents.  And the number of burglaries, robberies and thefts remained the same in Chicago even though the number of auto thefts increased by 23 percent.  The biggest decline in violent crimes was in Aurora which reported a drop of 15 percent, with only 3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.  Violent crimes include murder, robbery and assault.  The FBI did not report these figures for most Illinois cities in 2009 and 2010 because most Illinois towns failed to meet the FBI's reporting standards.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Illinois Withdraws From Federal Immigration Programs

Last week, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security informing them that the State of Illinois is formally withdrawing from the Secure Communities program, a federal deportation program that seeks to deport hardened criminals but is also used to deport illegal immigrants arrested for misdemeanor crimes.  Governor Quinn pointed out that nearly one third of illegal immigrants deported in Illinois were never convicted of any crime.  Quinn originally had stopped the state of Illinois from participating in the program since November because he was concerned about its effectiveness.  He had asked that the Department of Homeland Security provide proof that the program can be implemented effectively and sent the letter withdrawing after he said he was not satisfied that the flaws could be fixed.  At the same time, the Illinois Senate passed a local DREAM Act bill that would provide for privately funded scholarships and other financial assistance to students who were brought to the United States illegally.  A federal DREAM Act failed to pass in Congress.  The state measure now needs to be passed by the House of Representatives and be signed into law by Governor Quinn.  Governor Quinn has indicated that he would support such a measure.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Chicago Crime Rate Continues to Drop

Chicago's crime rate continued to decline in April.  This decline marks the 28th consecutive monthly decline, according to the Chicago Police Department.  Last year's murder rate was the lowest in Chicago since 1965.  The current figures released by the Chicago Police Department indicate that the murder rate in 2011 may be even lower than last year.  There have been 17 fewer murders so far this year than during the same period of time in 2010.  This represents a decline of 14.2 percent from 2010.  In addition, Aggravated Batteries were down 17.8 percent, Aggravated Assaults declined by about the same percentage and Robberies and Sexual Assaults also decreased sharply.  All property crimes were lower, except for vehicle thefts which actually increased by 20 percent.  

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.