Jury finds two Chicago cops guilty in corruption case

A federal jury on Tuesday found two Chicago cops, David Salgado and Xavier Elizondo, guilty of all counts in a corruption case.

Both men were convicted on each of the five counts they faced in connection with using bogus information to secure search warrants to steal cash and drugs.

When the trial began early this month, defense attorneys described Elizondo and Salgado as crime fighters wrongly accused of a criminal conspiracy that included bogus search warrants and the alleged theft of $4,200 from a rental car searched in January 2018.

Last week, Elizondo also took the stand and testified that he once portrayed himself on the street as a corrupt police officer. He said it helped him cultivate informants.

"There's some trickery involved in it," Elizondo said. "It's the nature of law enforcement working with informants. It's the nature of the beast."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Franzblau said the pair "are corrupt Chicago police officers who betrayed their badges and used their police powers to lie, cheat and steal."

The feds accused Elizondo and Salgado of abusing a system that let cops use anonymous "John Doe" informants. An informant working for the two officers gave false information to Cook County judges to get warrants that let the cops search properties where they stole money, drugs and cartons of cigarettes, according to the indictment. They also were accused of sharing the illegal proceeds with informants.

Sentencing for the men is sent for Jan. 23. U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang declined to have the men detained until then, saying prosecutors would have to file written motions arguing their case for detention.

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