Former Chicago police Officer Stephen Del Bosque pleaded guilty today to a misdemeanor civil rights charge stemming from his work in the infamous Special Operations Section, which was disbanded because of a scandal.
Del Bosque, 35, admitted lying on a 2005 police report by falsely claiming he saw a suspect drop two bricks of cocaine. He also lied in testimony before a grand jury, leading to false charges against the suspect.
Del Bosque, who agreed to cooperate with authorities, faces up to 12 months in prison when he is sentenced. Del Bosque joined the department in 2000 and resigned after a probe by state and federal authorities began.
Del Bosque was one of four current or former Chicago police officers who were charged earlier this month in federal court in connection with the SOS scandal. Lawyers for the other three have also indicated each plans to plead guilty to wrongdoing.
Ending With a Whimper
No trials, no corruption reaching the highest levels of the department. Just a rogue team with inadequate oversight, the same as most scandals end up being. It's too bad an entire unit where 99% of the officers did nothing wrong got painted with the same brush as that team did. In that way, it's kind of a microcosm of the Department at large. We assume this whole thing will be finished and done with prior to Rahm taking office.