Are contract negotiations coming up or something? In addition to the ongoing "Tow Scandal," we saw these stories today:
- A former Chicago police officer was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison today for using his police muscle to extort protection payoffs from heroin and crack dealers in the Ida B. Wells public housing complex.
Kallatt Mohammed, 47, remained defiant at his sentencing hearing, telling U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman he was following the orders of his superior officer in order to be granted time off to visit his children in Ohio, not because he was interested in the cash.
- Federal officials say they have foiled a grisly extortion plot involving two former police officers -- one of them released from Death Row nearly 15 years ago -- who plotted to abduct and dismember a man they believed had access to large amounts of cash from real estate holdings.
Steven Mandell, 61, of Buffalo Grove, and Gary Engel, 61, of Homer Glen, are charged with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion. Mandell had been sentenced to death for murder and kidnapping but his case was overturned in 1998.
Mandell, formerly known as Steven Manning, was a Chicago police officer for about 10 years until 1983. Engel is a former Willow Springs police officer.
Manning hasn't been a cop for almost 30 years, but it's right there in the headline.
And then there's the continuing Abbate crap with the bartender set to take the stand next week.