After just 8 1/2 months on the force, Chicago Police Officer Cornelius Tripp won a spot on the gang tactical squad in the West Side’s tough Austin District. He was assigned a more experienced officer to show him the ropes: Edward Lee “Pacman” Jackson Jr.
Just six weeks later, federal and local investigators videotaped Tripp and Jackson allegedly shaking down an undercover Chicago cop who was posing as a drug dealer.
That was just the start, Tripp testified in federal court Wednesday at the corruption trial of Jackson and three other Austin District officers.
Breaking a so-called code of silence among police officers, Tripp recounted how he took part in shakedowns of seven suspected drug dealers during a seven-month period in 1996. Tripp, who was on the force less than two years before indictments came down, said he pocketed almost $10,000 from the incidents.
Tripp, 30, was the first of the three officers who pleaded guilty before trial to testify.
Jackson is on trial with three other Austin District officers–M.L. Moore, James P. Young and Alex Ramos–on charges of misusing their police powers by robbing drug dealers or providing protection for deliveries of cocaine.
Tripp, who was facing a mandatory minimum 65-year prison term if he was convicted on all counts, pleaded guilty in March to racketeering conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Tripp’s cooperation could result in a sharply reduced prison sentence of 15 to 20 years.
Testifying under a grant of immunity to protect himself from potential state charges, Tripp, known by the nickname “Peanut,” said he was still a probationary police officer when he committed his first act of corruption.
While working patrol, Tripp said he and another undisclosed officer made a traffic stop and found cash in the car. Tripp said the other officer later gave him $500.
After his six-month probation ended, Tripp said he worked just 2 1/2 months on patrols before he was assigned to the gang tactical unit.
Under questioning Wednesday by Assistant U.S. Atty. Ryan Stoll, Tripp said that in all but one of the shakedowns the officers did not obtain search warrants or file police reports about the incidents. And in the one exception, Tripp alleged that Jackson falsified information to obtain the search warrant.
In that incident, which occurred just eight days before the officers were indicted in late 1996, Tripp said Jackson had him and another officer, Gregory Crittleton, hide from a supervisor three or four tennis ball-size rocks of cocaine they had found in an apartment at 77 W. Huron St. On instructions from Jackson, Tripp said, he and Crittleton delivered the cocaine to Terry Young, the top leader of the Traveling Vice Lords and allegedly a close friend of Jackson’s.
A few days later, after the gang allegedly had sold the narcotics on the street, Tripp said Jackson gave him $3,000 cash to split with Crittleton and the man who tipped them off to the drug location.
Crittleton also has pleaded guilty, and Terry Young was convicted earlier this month of federal drug conspiracy charges.
In the most lucrative robbery, Jackson allegedly teamed up with Tripp and Crittleton to find some $25,000 in cash, a pricey watch and a gold chain in what turned out to be an undercover apartment at 7 S. Mayfield Ave.
Prosecutors played a videotape Wednesday for jurors that showed Tripp and Crittleton stuffing the cash into their pockets in a bedroom of the apartment. Tripp said the officers counted the money at his mother’s house and that Jackson gave him and Crittleton $5,000 apiece.
Later that same day, Tripp said, he and Crittleton each bought a pair of boots and a sweatshirt at a mall, while Jackson allegedly purchased a Nike leather jacket.
Tripp also recalled how he strip-searched “Silky,” an undercover Chicago cop posing as a West Side drug dealer, in the bathroom of the Austin District police station, allegedly on instructions from Jackson. The officers escorted Silky out of the station without charging him after stealing $10,000 in cash from him, Tripp testified.
Later, Jackson gave him $2,500 for his cut, Tripp said, and asked him “if I was cool”–satisfied with his share. Tripp said he was.
The trial is scheduled to resume Monday with Tripp undergoing cross-examination.
———-
MORE ON THE INTERNET: Find more trial coverage, plus audio from the Austin undercover tapes at chicago.tribune.com/go/austin
