Federal prosecutors seeking, at least a 24-year prison sentence for former police Cmdr. Jon Burge

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http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=174545

Prosecutors seek lengthy prison term for Burge

by Allison Roy

Dec 01, 2010

Federal prosecutors announced earlier this month they would seek, at the minimum, a 24-year prison sentence for former police Cmdr. Jon Burge at his Jan. 20 sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors said in a court motion that Burge was responsible for torturing and abusing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991. His conduct has caused the public to lose faith in the city’s law enforcement and criminal justice systems, prosecutors said.

"Defendant's criminal acts have tainted and prejudiced the thousands of hard-working dedicated police officers who have followed in Burge's polluted wake," Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Weisman and April Perry wrote in their sentencing reccommendation, which was filed earlier this month. "These officers also have faced trying circumstances, and have had to confront society's ills. But unlike the defendant, the majority of these officers did not succumb to the principle that the ends justify the means."