Bloomingdale firm at center of federal corruption probe
The owner of a Bloomingdale-based attorney referral service was indicted on bribery charges as part of a federal investigation into corruption within the Chicago Police Department.
A grand jury indicted 55-year-old Richard Burton, who owned the National Attorney Referral Service in Bloomingdale, on conspiracy to commit bribery charges Friday, according to court records.
Burton is accused of paying two Chicago police officers - Kevin Tate, 47, and Milot Cadichon, 46 - kickbacks in exchange for information on car crash victims. The bribes, totaling less than $15,000 combined, were paid via cash or wire transfers, authorities said. The officers are facing additional bribery charges.
The indictments allege that between 2015 and 2017 Tate and Cadichon illegally accessed new traffic crash reports and surreptitiously fed names of victims and contact information to Burton in exchange for money. Prosecutors said officers are forbidden from accessing and disclosing reports that aren't for law enforcement purposes during the reports' processing periods, which can range from 24 hours to several weeks.
The bribery charges against the police officers could result in as much as 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors. The conspiracy charges carry a five-year maximum sentence.