- The last former Chicago police officer to be sentenced as part of one of the worst misconduct scandals in the department’s history was given just 2 months in prison today for taking part in three robberies while a member of the once-elite Special Operations Section.
Keith Herrera faced up to 13 years in prison but had his sentence sharply reduced because he cooperated with federal authorities, wearing a wire to secretly record then-Officer Jerome Finnigan as he plotted the murder of another officer he suspected of cooperating with authorities.
Finnigan, identified by authorities as the scheme’s ringleader, was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison for the murder-for-hire plot.
Finnigan was identified as the "ringleader" because he kept his mouth shut. Herrera avoided that title by talking as soon as he got caught dirty. Make no mistake about it, Herrera was the dirtiest of the bunch. Those in the know remember the stories from 008 about this turd.
Every one of these goofs deserved to be fired and some deserved jail. But the disparity between 12 years and 60 days? Finnigan's scalp hangs on someone's wall while Herrera's is selling used cars in the 'burbs. We aren't sure this meets the definition of "justice."