Police Charged with Illegally Selling Guns
In was recently revealed in several indictments that four former and current Campton Hills law enforcement officials, including the former Police Chief, are accused of illegally selling guns taken from the evidence room of the police station and attempting to cover up their transactions. Former Campton Hills Police Chief Steven Millar, former Campton Hills police Officers Scott Coryell and Daniel Hatt and current Campton Hills police Officer Douglas Kucik, are all charged with multiple felonies for their roles in the firearm thefts and subsequent actions which took place between January 2018 until February 2023. In response to the charges, ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly said that, “After a thorough, years long investigation, ISP Special Agents submitted evidence of criminal behavior among certain Campton Hills Police Department Officers to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office” adding that, “The public must be able to trust that those charged with enforcing the law are also upholding the law.”
In addition, a Chicago Police officer, Kevin Rodriguez, has been federally charged after federal prosecutors allege that he used his status as a police officer to act as a “straw purchaser” for others for AR-15 style assault rifles the fall of 2024. A straw purchaser of firearms is someone who claims on federal firearms transaction records that they are purchasing a firearm for themselves, but in actuality are purchasing them for someone else who is almost always prohibited from obtaining firearms. Under Illinois’ ban on assault rifle purchases which took effect in 2023, law enforcement officers are exempt from the restriction on purchasing new assault rifles. Prosecutors allege that Rodriguez’ co-conspirator, Diego Valdez who is not a police officer, paid him to make the purchases, which Rodriguez falsely claimed were for himself, and that Diego then smuggled the firearms to Mexico.
Suburban Police Officer Accused of Living and Working Illegally in the United States
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents arrested a suburban Chicago police officer as part of “Operation Midway Blitz” and accused Radule Bojovic, originally from Montenegro, of being in the country illegally after overstaying his tourist visa for over ten years. Bojovic was hired this past January by the Village of Hanover Park as a police officer, which placed him on administrative leave after his arrest in this matter. In a statement, the village claims they did their due diligence in hiring Bojovic claiming that they did a background check which, “confirmed that he was legally authorized by the federal government to work in the United States” at the time of his hiring. However, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem highlighted the arrest in a social media post, saying, “Radical sanctuary politicians have allowed criminal illegal aliens to infiltrate our school districts, communities, and even police departments. President Trump and I will continue to put the safety of Americans FIRST.” The Village of Hanover Park issues a statement saying it will wait on the results of his immigration proceedings and that he will be returned to full duties should he be allowed to remain and work in the United States at the conclusion of this matter.
The investigation and prosecution of law enforcement officers comes with unique challenges, but different defenses to charges are also often available to law enforcement officers than to the average criminal defendant.
