Cop Convicted in Murder Plot Sent Letters to Highland Park Police

Former Chicago police officer Steven Mandell, who was once accused of sending inappropriate letters to Highland Park police, was sentenced to life plus five years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of an intention to carry out a murder plot on Riverside landlord Stven Campbell, a suburban businessman.

Following his conviction in 2012, Mandell was accused of sending inappropriate letters from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in the Loop, including one to Highland Park police.

While the details of that letter have not been disclosed, Highland Park was the site of a mysterious fire shortly after that killed another restaurateur who was “known to carry around a lot of cash.”

The Chicago Tribune reports that after concluding federal guidelines that call for a life sentence for the murder plot, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Thursday imposed that in addition to a mandatory five-year sentence for a gun conviction.

“The pure delight that you showed in those videos … it came through loud and clear,” St. Eve said upon sentencing.

Tribune photo

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