2 Chicago Cops Charged With Crash Report Bribery Conspiracy

CHICAGO — Two Chicago police officers are accused of conspiring with a suburban businessman to take thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for reports of traffic crashes. Federal prosecutors said the pair provided information about people involved in crashes that was not public so to allow the owner of an attorney referral service to solicit victims as clients for lawyers.

Officers Kevin Tate, 47, and Milot Cadichon, 46, were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery, the Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Prosecutors said the owner of the National Attorney Referral Service, 55-year-old Richard Burton of Bloomingdale, paid them more than $13,000 between 2015 and 2017. Burton was also charged with conspiracy to commit bribery.

Tate, who has been a Chicago police officer since 2005, and Cadichon, who has been with CPD since 1998, were paid through cash and wire transfers after sending text messages to Burton with information from non-public traffic crash reports, including the contact information for accident victims, according to the indictment. Most payments were between $200 and $400. Burton paid Cadichon at least $7,350 and sent Tate at least $6,000.

Chicago Police Department traffic crash reports are only made public after a processing period that ranges from a day to several weeks, according to prosecutors. Once they are processed, a member of the public can request them for a fee. Officers can see the reports before they are finalized, but they are only forbidden from accessing or disclosing information from them for non-law enforcement purposes.

According to prosecutors, Burton used the traffic crash reports to solicit accident victims as clients for attorneys and received a commission.

Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement both officers had been stripped of their police powers, "pending the outcome of the federal investigation." He said the allegations, if proven, are a "disgraceful abuse" of the public's trust.

If convicted, all three men face a up to five years in prison for the charge of conspiracy. The two police officers also face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said they have not yet scheduled an arraignment for the three men.