Former Chicago police sergeant convicted after being on the run for 14 years
The Chicago cop gone rogue was captured in Detroit and brought back for his trial after a decade and a half on the lam, the FBI says
Former Chicago police sergeant Eddie Hicks, who managed to spend nearly 15 years on the run, was found guilty on multiple corruption charges.
A 30-year police veteran Hicks was convicted of extortion, bribery, racketeering, drug conspiracy, theft of government funds and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug conspiracy, according to CBS Chicago.
Back in 2003, corrupt Chicago police Sgt. Eddie Hicks skipped out on trial, after being accused of leading a corrupt team of cops who abused their authority to shake down drug dealers for cash, drugs and weapons.
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Back in 2001, Hicks, now 70, was set up by FBI who got word and recordings of Hicks’ mishaps. According to the Chicago Tribune, the set up took place at a location that was used as a ruse for Hicks, who presumed he was going to casually rob another stash house. Instead, he was raided, and caught on undercover recordings.
The day before his 2003 trial, Hicks skipped town, and lived under the guise of an assumed name. After over 14 years on the lam, Hicks was arrested in Detroit in 2017 and brought back to Chicago to be tried and persecuted.
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Between 1970 – 2000 Hicks served as an officer, being later assigned to the narcotics section between 1992 and 1997, where his illegal activities began.
Hicks and the rest of his crew of corrupt cops also allegedly used counterfeit police badges and stole unmarked cars for their raids. They would pose as DEA task force officers while pulling people over, and would allegedly forge search warrants to raid homes. Afterward, they would divvy up money at a Chicago police station, which they called the “gym,” according to the CBS.
“They used the power of the badge and the power of the gun to do their searches and street stops,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said about Hicks and his officer accomplices during opening statements at last week’s trial. “Any money they found was theirs. It went into their pockets.”
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