Pubdate: Fri, 17 Mar 2000
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2000 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
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Author: Todd Lighty

GANG BOSS SAYS HE, COPS WERE HAND IN GLOVE

Confessed Killer Claims Dealings With Police Spanned 2 Decades

Describing a relationship with Chicago police that he said spanned two
decades, a street gang leader alleged Thursday that officers regularly
ripped off drug dealers, fixed criminal cases and several times sprung
him from jail so he could visit his girlfriends.

The revelations were detailed during an hourlong proceeding in U.S.
District Court in Chicago, where gang leader and confessed killer
Nelson Padilla admitted being part of a Miami-to-Chicago drug ring
allegedly run by Joseph Miedzianowski, a former gang crimes officer
indicted last year.

In a 44-page plea agreement that will help reduce the length of his
prison sentence, Padilla alleged that Miedzianowski in 1990 helped
persuade a judge to give Padilla an 8-year prison sentence on drug
charges when prosecutors wanted him sentenced to 25 years.

The prosecutor in that case, Kevin Byrne, said Thursday that had
Padilla received the stiffer sentence he would not have been on the
streets to kill a rival gang member in 1995.

"I was infuriated that he committed murder during the time he should
have been incarcerated," Byrne said. "And he would have been
incarcerated if not for Miedzianowski."

According to Padilla, Miedzianowski and another officer helped him
avoid capture following the 1995 killing.

At other times, Padilla claimed, police supplied his gang with guns
and ammunition, and Miedzianowski took him and other gang members to a
local shooting range to improve their marksmanship.

Padilla is the 11th co-defendant in the drug case to plead guilty and
agree to cooperate with a federal investigation into allegations that
a band of rogue cops for years shook down drug dealers and planted
evidence.

His decision to cooperate is a significant step in the 20-month-long
investigation, partly because he has provided information about
alleged criminal activity by at least four other Chicago police
officers and one Cook County sheriff's correctional officer, according
to court documents.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Brian Netols said more arrests are expected
during the next several weeks.

Miedzianowski, 46, has pleaded innocent and is scheduled to be tried
this summer. He remains in federal custody in the Metropolitan
Correction Center.

His longtime partner, John Galligan, and three other Chicago officers
have been stripped of police powers and assigned to desk duty,
department officials have said. A Cook County sheriff's correctional
officer also has been transferred from his job on the firing range to
a non-sensitive post in the jail.

Chicago police declined to comment on Thursday's developments. Earlier
this week, they announced plans to break up Miedzianowski's old gang
crimes unit, though they said the federal investigation did not prompt
the change.

Because Padilla agreed to cooperate with investigators, prosecutors
have recommended that he receive no more than 22 1/2 years in prison
in the drug case. He could have received life in prison.

On Tuesday, Padilla pleaded guilty in Cook County Circuit Court to
killing rival gang member Robert Detres in 1995. He also plans to
plead guilty to a heroin-trafficking charge in Florida, according to
court documents.

Ralph Meczyk, Miedzianowski's lawyer, criticized prosecutors for
making the deal with Padilla.

"Joseph Miedzianowski is a highly decorated, tough, street cop who
protected the citizens of the city of Chicago for years," Meczyk said.
"The government wants to keep this man locked up for the rest of his
life.

"Contrast that to Nelson Padilla--a murderer and a thug. The
government can't wait to reduce his sentence and get him out into the
community Joe Miedzianowski worked hard to protect."

But according to Padilla's account, Miedzianowski and others--police,
drug dealers and gang members--were mainly interested in protecting
themselves.

According to the plea agreement, Padilla met Miedzianowski in 1980
when Miedzianowski was a young patrol officer on the North Side. Soon
after, according to Padilla, their illicit partnership began.

Among other activities, Padilla said he provided guns to Miedzianowski
and other police officers. In return, his fellow Latin Lovers gang
members often were released from custody without being charged, the
plea stated.

By 1988, according to his plea, Padilla was working with Miedzianowski
and other Chicago police to steal and extort cash and drugs from
cocaine dealers.

Padilla detailed about 15 such robberies in which police allegedly
shared in the booty, totaling nearly 80 pounds of cocaine and more
than $250,000.

Padilla said that he or some other member of the conspiracy typically
would order kilograms of cocaine from a rival dealer, then alert
Miedzianowski and other police.

Miedzianowski and other officers would raid the location, seizing
drugs and cash for themselves, according to Padilla.

In one case, Padilla said he and co-defendant Mohammad Omar sold 10
kilograms of seized cocaine for $150,000, far below street value. Of
that, $50,000 went to Miedzianowski and other officers, according to
the agreement.

Miedzianowski, according to the plea, also asked Padilla for drugs to
plant "on people who gave him trouble," including a woman who filed a
complaint against the officer for allegedly throwing her down a flight
of stairs.

When Padilla was arrested on drug charges in 1988, according to his
plea, Miedzianowski tried to persuade the prosecutor to drop the
charges. The prosecutor refused Miedzianowski's request, and Padilla
was convicted.

Padilla faced up to 25 years in prison. But Miedzianowski showed up at
the sentencing to testify on his behalf, telling Cook County Judge
Thomas P. Durkin that Padilla was a valuable informant, according to
records.

Durkin said he had considered a 12-year sentence but was so impressed
with Miedzianowski's testimony that he decided to sentence Padilla to
8 years, according to those records.

In court Thursday, prosecutor Netols said Miedzianowski had
exaggerated the extent and results of Padilla's cooperation.

While Padilla was being held in Cook County Jail, Miedzianowski and
his partner allegedly got Padilla out a dozen times on the pretext
that he was cooperating with an investigation, according to Padilla's
plea.

In reality, Padilla said in his plea, the officers took him out for
meals and visits to his girlfriends, including one overnight stay.

In 1995, less than two years after his release from prison, Padilla
shot and killed Detres on the city's Near Northwest Side.

According to his plea, Padilla said that he fled after the shooting
and that Miedzianowski and others helped him hide in an apartment.

Miedzianowski and another unnamed officer made twice-weekly visits to
Padilla, bringing him food and updates on the investigation, Padilla
said.

Padilla eventually fled the city, but in early 1998 he was arrested on
the heroin charge in Florida. He was extradited to Chicago in the
Detres case but never was formally charged because key witnesses would
not cooperate and others could not be found, according to court documents.

He, Miedzianowski and 12 others were charged in December 1998 by
federal prosecutors. He remains in federal custody.
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