CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)–November 20, 2015. A former sergeant in the Chicago Police Department pleaded guilty today to charges he took cash payments from a liquor store clerk in exchange for disclosing private government information.
RAY M. RAMIREZ served as a sergeant in the 12th Police District on the city’s Near West Side. Ramirez admitted in a plea agreement that he obtained information from law enforcement databases and passed it to the store clerk in exchange for cash payments of $150 to $200. The information included a criminal background check on a prospective store employee, a vehicle registration check, and a review of police incidents occurring in and around the store.
Ramirez also admitted that he shook down the clerk and other store employees for cash payments ranging from $70 to $200. Ramirez wore his police uniform and was on duty when he demanded the payments, according to the plea agreement.
Ramirez, 52, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of intentionally accessing a Chicago Police Department mobile computer and exceeding his authorized access to obtain information from a department or agency of the United States. He faces a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison, a maximum fine of $100,000, and mandatory restitution. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 16, 2016, at 10:30 a.m.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Megan Cunniff Church.
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Source: www.justice.gov
