Ex-cop pleads guilty to towing shakedown

A former Chicago police officer has admitted to shaking down tow truck operators, charging them for each vehicle towed.

Michael Ciancio appeared before U.S. Judge John W. Darrah and pleaded guilty to one count of extortion, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

Darrah set May 13 for sentencing.

FBI agents said in arresting the 56-year-old Ciancio in August 2007 that witnesses told them he expected $100 for each tow and at times got as much as $400.

Federal prosecutors are asking the court to order Ciancio to forfeit $1,380. The 26-year police veteran will also lose his police pension.