Crooked Chicago Police Officer David Salgado was sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison for his role in a scheme to lie to judges to get search warrants, so he and his partner could steal drugs and money.
The sentencing of Salgado concluded nearly three weeks after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly gave Salgado’s co-defendant, Xavier Elizondo, more than seven years in prison.
The hearings for both men technically began in early March, days before the coronavirus pandemic largely halted business at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
A jury convicted Elizondo, 48, and Salgado, 39, on several corruption counts back in October. The officers were accused of enlisting people to lie to judges, who then approved search warrants the officers used to steal money, drugs and cigarettes. Salgado was also convicted of lying to the FBI.
Initially, prosecutors asked Kennelly to send each man to prison for 10 years, arguing they cloaked robberies and burglaries with “the veneer of lawfulness” and wrought “institutional havoc” on Cook County’s justice system. Kennelly agreed last month that Elizondo “completely corrupted” the local legal system. On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the judge to give Salgado the same sentence that his partner received — 87 months.
Salgado’s attorney, Michael Petro, labeled Elizondo “the leader, manager and organizer of the criminal scheme.” After the jury handed down its verdict last fall, Petro told reporters the men should have gone to trial separately.
“If (Salgado) would have been tried by himself, he would have definitely been found not guilty,” Petro said.
The judge rejected defense arguments that Salgado was simply following orders from his partner and fell under his corrupt sway.
Kennelly said “Mr. Salgado made choices, and now this is where he finds himself.”
Cook County Circuit Judge Mauricio Araujo found himself drawn into the case because he signed a warrant for Salgado outside Smith & Wollensky in River North in December 2017. Elizondo and Salgado used that warrant to search what they believed to be a drug stash house on the West Side.
The FBI had hidden $15,000 inside the house searched by the officers using the Araujo warrant. It also planted surveillance cameras there. The officers found both and decided to inventory the money properly, according to federal prosecutors.
Still, Elizondo was caught on tape telling an informant working for the feds “it would have been a good Christmas” if the cameras hadn’t been there.
Then, in January 2018, that same informant told Elizondo about cash and drugs inside a rental car parked at the Carlton Inn near Midway Airport. The tipster told Elizondo a key had been tucked inside the rear bumper of the car.
The FBI had hidden $18,200 in two Burger King bags in the car, according to court records.
After searching the car with other officers, they eventually took the car to the Homan Square police station, where Salgado reported $14,000 was found inside, records show.
Salgado wound up crossing paths the next afternoon with a Chicago Police internal affairs officer working with the FBI. The seized car was already on a flatbed tow truck, but Salgado complained that it was part of an investigation.
The officer told Salgado who he was, and that he needed the car for his own investigation.
The internal affairs officer later testified that Salgado “seemed shocked.”
