You're average cop is a common theif

Sentencing delayed for witness in Pittsburgh police corruption case 
The sentencing of a defendant in a corruption case involving the city of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has been postponed from April 4 to May 22 because she is cooperating with the investigation.
Former city systems analyst Christine Kebr has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and confirmed to U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon that she helped to steer a contract to an Esplen business for bribes totaling $6,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Cessar wrote in a motion filed today with Judge Bissoon that Ms. Kebr "is cooperating in an ongoing investigation, and the government believes it would be advisable to postpone her sentencing until her cooperation is complete."
Judge Bissoon granted the motion.
Ms. Kebr, 56, of Castle Shannon, confirmed that she took the bribes from Art Bedway, 63, of Robinson. Mr. Bedway has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, bribery and mail fraud charges.
Prosecutors said Mr. Bedway ran Alpha Outfitters, which beat out a competing company to win a contract to install and maintain radios and computers in city police cars, for which it was paid around $330,000. Ms. Kebr said she conducted the selection process for the city's information systems department, while secretly working with Mr. Bedway and an unnamed third individual to ensure that Alpha Outfitters won the bid.
Former city police chief Nate Harper was a friend of Mr. Bedway, but has denied any involvement with the contract. Mr. Harper was indicted Friday on unrelated charges of conspiracy and willful failure to file tax returns and his attorneys have said he plans to plead guilty.


Judge revokes bond of former police chief charged in corruption case 
SPRINGFIELD — A judge revoked bond Friday for former Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans after she was charged earlier this month for allegedly tampering with a witness and obstructing justice in her federal corruption case.
Evans had been held on a recognizance bond for her 2012 indictment of allegedly misusing more than half of a $1.25 million state job-training grant that went to a non-profit she controlled with her husband, Ronald Evans Jr., who is also under federal indictment.
But on March 15 Evans was jailed in Springfield after being charged with allegedly coaching a key witness in the fraud case, Ashley Simon, two days before Simon provided false testimony before a grand jury last month.
Simon allegedly admitted to federal investigators she had lied under Evans’ direction to the grand jury about $17,000 in state grant funds she withdrew from the bank and $5,000 of which she deposited into Evans’ personal bank account.
After meeting on Feb. 6 with the grand jury, Simon allegedly sent Evans a text message saying, “I just got out if you think it’s okay to call me. It went horrible.”
Simon — who was supposed to be a mentor for Evans’ purported charity, We Are Our Brother’s Keeper — was controversially hired in 2010 as a part-time Country Club Hills police officer, a post she still holds full time but is currently on leave due to pregnancy.
After allegedly admitting she had lied to the grand jury, Simon agreed with federal investigators to wear a wire and record Evans in her Chicago home on Feb. 14, when Evans allegedly continued to say things like, “Never let them change your mind. . . . . Stay strong and we’ll get through this.”
Several tapes of recorded conversations, hundreds of pages of text messages between Evans and Simon and the testimony from U.S. Postal Inspector Basil Demczak, who conducted most of the investigation, were enough for the court to conclude Friday that there was probable cause for the charges.
After more than three hours of hearing, Judge Byron Cudmore decided to revoke Evans’ bond.
Evans — shackled and dressed in a gray and white striped jumpsuit with her family in the audience — sat motionless before Cudmore as he declared Evans unfit to rejoin the community for fear she could tamper with other witnesses.
Arguing for Evans’ release on bond, her lawyer, Lawrence Beaumont, told the court that Simon had “basically showed up on [Evans’] doorstep and asked to be tampered with.”
“It’s not like she’s going from witness to witness to witness and saying, ‘change your story, lie or whatever,’” Beaumont said of his client.
Beaumont also informed the court that Evans’ mother, Essie McCoy, was willing to put up her homes in Chicago and Alabama for bond and that Pastor Shirley Hughes of the Inspirational Deliverance Center Church of God in Christ — where Evans has been a member since 2008 — was willing to act as third-party custodian.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass, who prosecuted on behalf of the government, argued Evans has a “corrupt state of mind” based on her recorded conversations with Simon.
“A new charge and a new arrest following a different arrest and charge is not some magic wand,” he said. “We’ve proven what she is likely to do, and that is to commit another offense.”

JPD officer charged in bribery case takes witness stand 
The prosecution rested its case Thursday against Sgt. Richard McGahey, who is accused of accepting $250 to give a field release to a suspect.
McGahey denied ever taking a bribe.
The FBI’s informant, who helped with McGahey's arrest, took the stand Wednesday.
The informant said he had a long business relationship with McGahey.
McGahey testified that the informant regularly owed him money. McGahey said at one point, the informant owed him more than $400.
"I said, 'Good grief. How much are we up to?'" McGahey testified.
McGahey said he gave the informant food on Thanksgiving and Christmas. McGahey said he also gave him rain gear and an old suit.
"What did you think that money was for?" defense attorney Dale Danks Jr. asked McGahey.
"Well, I knew what it was for. It was for the $196 that he owed me," McGahey


Judge tells D.C. cop to seek help for gambling problem before sentencing
The sentencing of a D.C. police detective convicted of stealing her brother's identity has been deferred so that the officer can begin to seek help for a gambling problem.
Jamell Stallings, 46, of Brandywine, was convicted in February of counterfeiting, identity fraud and theft charges. She was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday but now has another court appearance scheduled for May 17.
According to prosecutors, Stallings and one of her brothers, Ronald Greene, had gone to a credit union to open an account, but Stallings made herself a joint owner of the account without her brother's knowledge. Stallings then used her brother's identity to take out several loans. She used the money for items such as fancy dinners, her education and to pay off her vehicle.
Stallings has been a D.C. police officer since 1989, and a police spokeswoman said Tuesday that she remains suspended without pay. As a homicide detective, Stallings was testifying against criminals during the day and "was coming home and scamming banks," prosecutor Renee Joy said in a hearing Tuesday.
Greene and his daughter did not attend the hearing, but Joy read letters from them in which they asked for Stallings to receive mental health treatment. Joy recommended a sentence of 4 years and 3 months in prison, which is at the top of the sentencing guidelines.
Stallings' lawyers then called a co-worker and two of Stallings' other siblings to speak. A sister said Stallings is a good person who has tried to help Greene. Relatives also claimed that Greene, who has suffered from a drug addiction, has been a problem.
But before Stallings was given the opportunity to speak, Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge Sherrie Krauser had a lengthy sidebar with the prosecutors and defense attorneys. Krauser then addressed Stallings and her supporters and said they were "under a misconception" if they thought the indiscretions were about Stallings trying to assist Greene or an intrafamily dispute.
Instead, Krauser told Stallings, "It's all about your gambling." The judge noted that bank records showed Stallings taking trips to Atlantic City, N.J., and Las Vegas.
Krauser encouraged Stallings' family members to rally around her and help her overcome her addiction. She said she wanted Stallings to begin her road to recovery prior to sentencing in order to ensure that she does not commit similar crimes in the future.
As Stallings exited the courtroom following the hearing, she was crying, and her supporters were consoling her.