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Investigators familiar with the federal probe said the officers likely stole thousands of dollars running shakedown scams over the past several years. They said some of the money was spent on gambling trips and recreational boats.
Miller and Tortoriello are not expected to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, said defense lawyer Terry Gillespie, who represented both officers.
"There was no deal that in exchange for their plea they would cooperate," Gillespie. "They just took their medicine. They bit the bullet and they're going on with their lives."
He characterized the conduct of his clients as aberrations during otherwise unblemished careers.
No conspiracy alleged
Both Gillespie and Donahoe said the federal and state probe has not produced evidence that the police officers--those charged and those under investigation--were operating in concert, conspiring to defraud immigrants in the Jefferson Park neighborhood.
But to many in the Polish American community, the officers' conduct smacked of an organized effort to target vulnerable new immigrants who feared retribution if they complained about being robbed.
Police have said some of the victims were threatened with deportation if they didn't turn over cash or jewelry to the officers.
"Obviously this is an issue that was much greater than just stopping an individual and asking for some money," Les Kuczynski, general counsel at the Polish National Alliance and national executive director of the Polish American Congress, said Monday. "Obviously this was against the Polish community in a district that had a lot of immigrants, a lot of fear that the police were not there to protect and serve, but rather to take advantage. ... It's not a rogue police officer taking advantage of one citizen; it was a concerted effort."
Court documents filed in the case reveal that Miller and Tortoriello brazenly abused their power to confront and interrogate the suspected Polish immigrants.
The Cardinal Club
At 4:30 a.m. on March 12, 2000, Tortoriello targeted FBI Special Agent George Ragus, who was posing as a patron at the Cardinal Club, 5155 W. Belmont Ave. As Ragus left the club and began stumbling toward his car, Tortoriello asked him where he was going and whether he was in any condition to drive, according to court records.
Tortoriello then requested identification from Ragus, grabbed his wallet, inspected his driver's license and removed $280. Tortoriello kept $100, told Ragus to put the rest of the money in his pocket, and then placed Ragus in a squad car and drove him to the address listed on his license.
In a similar fashion, Miller confronted Special Agent Milan Momcilovic on April 9, 2000, as he emerged from the Cardinal Club. After Miller grabbed his wallet, Momcilovic told Miller that he was planning to use the money in his wallet to buy a new car for his grandmother in Milwaukee, according to court documents. Miller took $200.