Two Chicago Police Officers Indicted on Federal Bribery Charges

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted two Chicago Police Department officers for allegedly providing information from non-public traffic crash reports to the owner of an attorney-referral service in exchange for money.

Officers KEVIN TATE and MILOT CADICHON provided information from the crash reports to RICHARD BURTON, who owned and operated Bloomingdale-based National Attorney Referral Service, the indictments allege.  In exchange, Burton allegedly paid a total of at least $7,350 to Cadichon, and at least $6,000 to Tate.  Burton then used the information to solicit accident victims as clients for attorneys, the charges state.

The indictments were returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Tate, 47, of Chicago, Cadichon, 46, of Chicago, and Burton, 55, of Bloomingdale, are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery.  Tate and Cadichon also face an additional count of bribery.  Arraignments in federal court have not yet been scheduled.

The indictments were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrianna D. Kastanek and Ankur Srivastava.

Traffic crash reports in Chicago are either filled out by a police officer who appears on the scene of an accident, or by a complainant appearing in person at a local police station.  Although the reports are not publicly available during a processing period ranging from 24 hours to several weeks, police officers can access them for legitimate law enforcement reasons.  Officers are not permitted to access or disclose the reports for non-law enforcement purposes.

According to the indictments, Tate and Cadichon provided information from the reports to Burton from 2015 to 2017.  The information was conveyed in various ways, including using a cell phone to text Burton the crash victims’ contact information, the indictments state.  Burton paid the officers via cash bribes and wire transfers, the charges allege.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while the bribery charge is punishable by up to ten years.  If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. 

The public is reminded that charges are not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.