Chicago Cop Accused of Murder Scheme

Chicago Police Officer Jerome Finnigan leaves the Cook County Criminal Courts Building in Chicago in this Nov. 14, 2006, file photo. Finnigan is facing federal charges that accuse him of planning the murder-for-hire of a former officer. He was arrested by federal officials at his home and scheduled for a court appearance Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, in Chicago. Finnigan was one of six members of an elite Chicago police unit already accused of using a badge to shake down residents. He was suspended from the force following the filing of those state charges in 2006. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) (Charles Rex Arbogast - AP)

CHICAGO -- A suspended Chicago police officer accused in a corruption case considered hiring members of a street gang to kill a former colleague and potential witness against him, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday.

Jerome Finnigan, 44, is quoted in an FBI agent's affidavit as telling a co-defendant he was looking for someone less risky than gang members but warning that the cost would go up for "professional painters" _ code for killers.

Finnigan is one of six members of an elite Chicago police unit already accused of using their badges to shake down residents and intimidate people. He has pleaded not guilty to state charges including armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping in that case, which is in Cook County criminal court.

According to federal officials, the man targeted for death could be a witness against Finnigan in both the federal investigation and the state prosecution.

Finnigan discussed this past weekend killing three other police officers he believed to be cooperating in the investigations, according to the affidavit and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

"When the person who seeks to hire someone to kill a witness against him is a police officer, it doesn't get any more serious than that," Fitzgerald said.

Federal authorities are also investigating the police department's special operations section, which focuses on drugs and gangs.

During a brief appearance in court, Finnigan _ wearing a green sweat shirt turned inside out and shackled at the ankles _ said he understood the charges against him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole ordered him held until a detention hearing Monday.

Finnigan declined to talk to reporters as marshals led him away, and defense attorney Michael Ficaro said he would have no comment until he learned more about the case against his client.

FBI agents arrested Finnigan, who was previously free on $4 million bond in the state cases, at his home Wednesday morning, authorities said.

He is charged with using a telephone to commit murder for hire. In a case like the one against him, in which no death or injury occurs, the charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, authorities said.

According to the affidavit submitted by FBI agent Tom Simon, Finnigan had learned that a former Chicago police officer _ labeled Cooperating Witness 1 by Simon _ would be a witness against Finnigan in the first of the state cases to go to trial.

This summer, Finnigan began discussing with a co-defendant in the state case the possibility of hiring gang members to kill CW1 for $5,000, using the term "paint job" as code, according to Simon's affidavit.

The co-defendant eventually began cooperating with federal authorities and recorded some of their conversations. In one transcript reproduced in the affidavit, Finnigan is accused of telling his co-defendant that one man he had talked to "has done a lotta paint jobs."

But the co-defendant told authorities Finnigan also encouraged him to try himself to find someone to kill the former officer.

When the co-defendant said Friday that he had found someone to do the job, Finnigan gave him a photograph of CW1, described his vehicle, agreed to pay half the fee for a hit man and said he would provide his co-defendant with CW1's current address, according to the affidavit.

"This is another chapter in a truly sordid story," Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine said at the news conference. "If we can't have a process where witnesses can come forward and testify without fear, then we're all damaged."