ROBBER TELLS OF HAVING TO RETURN LOOT FROM DRUG HOUSE TO COP

A Chicago man admitted in federal court Thursday that a daring robbery at a
North Side drug house backfired because the house was under the protection
of an allegedly corrupt policeman.

Darrell Johnson told federal authorities he returned 6.6 pounds of cocaine
and $20,000 in cash stolen from the house in 1997 after the policeman,
Joseph Miedzianowski, threatened to arrest him.

Fresh details of the drug house robbery surfaced when Johnson pleaded
guilty before U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning and became the 15th of
Miedzianowski's 22 co-defendants to agree to testify against the former
officer.

In exchange for his cooperation, Johnson will receive a prison sentence of
around 12 1/2 to 15 1/2 years. He had faced life behind bars.

Miedzianowski, 47, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he led a double
life as a drug-busting police officer and drug kingpin, overseeing a
Miami-to-Chicago narcotics ring from 1994 through 1998.

Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Officer John Galligan,
Miedzianowski's partner of nearly 20 years, for allegedly helping to
protect the drug ring.

Galligan, 50, has been suspended from the Chicago Police Department and has
also pleaded not guilty.

The two former gang crimes officers are scheduled to go on trial together
Jan. 8 on narcotics, extortion and weapons charges.

In the summer of 1997, Johnson said, he and two other unidentified men
decided to rob a drug house on Lovejoy Avenue.

At the time, another of Miedzianowski's co-defendants, Juan Martir, used
the house to store cash and drugs.

Martir also has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the ongoing federal
investigation.

According to court documents, Alina Lis, another of Miedzianowski's
co-defendants and a former girlfriend, and two others in the house were
tied up during the robbery. Lis' purse was stolen as well.

When Miedzianowski learned of the robbery and that Lis had been
"manhandled," he became upset, according to Johnson's plea agreement.

"Joseph Miedzianowski placed a telephone call to Johnson," according to
court documents. "Joseph Miedzianowski threatened to arrest Johnson if
Johnson did not return the cocaine, money and Lis' purse."

Shortly afterward, Johnson said, he returned the drugs and the cash. It's
unclear what happened to the purse.