Sep 26, 2007 6:50 pm US/Central
Chicago Cop Arrested, Charged With Murder-For-Hire
Feds: Officer Plotting To Kill Potential Witness Against Him
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A Chicago police officer who was already in legal trouble was arrested Wednesday on federal charges for allegedly planning the murder-for-hire of a former fellow police officer.
Authorities say Jerome Finnigan, 44, was plotting the murder of an officer who was a potential witness against him in an ongoing federal investigation and a pending state criminal prosecution.
Federal agents arrested Finnigan outside his home on the city's Southwest Side and then searched the house. They say he did not resist arrest.
Finnigan was assigned to the elite Special Operations Section of the Chicago Police Department. He was one of six members of that unit arrested in 2006 for allegedly using their badges to shake down residents for cash and other items. He was suspended from the force after state charges were filed in that case.
According to the new complaint against him, Finnigan first talked about the murder-for-hire plot in July, 2007, with another police officer who then began cooperating with law enforcement.
The two apparently discussed hiring street gang members who would commit the murder for $5,000. They used the term "paint job" as a code for murder.
Federal agents recorded several phone conversations between Finnigan and the officer he solicited for help. In one case, Finnigan allegedly said he was looking for a different hit man who would be more professional and less risky than gang members and asked the other officer to find someone to commit the murder.
Authorities say at first Finnigan balked at the professional hit man's $40,000 asking fee, but in one of the recorded conversation with the police officer who became an informant for the government Finnigan says, "He said that they're professionals and you'll never have a problem. Never have any complaints, never have a problem."
"He went so far as to provide a photo of the officer. He also had an address and discussed the make and model of the car that the intended victim possesses," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
The one officer wasn't the only one Finnigan's hit list. "There were three other officers that he talked about killing as well," Fitzgerald said.
Finnigan appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and shackles. The bond hearing on his federal charges was delayed until Monday. At that time, authorities say they may have new charges.
Court records show the police officer Finnigan was trying to hire to help him with the crime and the officer he was allegedly plotting to kill are both co-defendants in the state charges he faces. Those charges include armed robbery, armed violence, home invasion and kidnapping. Finnigan was already out on a $4 million bond for those charges.
If convicted in this murder-for-hire case, Finnigan faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Chicago police did comment on Finnigan's new charges. The top brass said this is proof that the department is committed to rooting out bad cops.
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