4 COPS MAY HAVE RUINED 100 CASES

Authorities are expected to arrest four Chicago Police officers today
in a corruption investigation that could lead Cook County prosecutors
to drop more than 100 criminal cases because they were tainted by the
allegedly crooked cops.

The officers are members of the department's elite Special Operations
Section, a citywide unit that seizes guns and drugs in crime hot spots.

All 4 have been sued

At least four other officers, including a woman, have been stripped
of their power to carry guns and make arrests, sources said.

The officers are accused of raiding homes and stealing valuables --
sometimes from drug dealers and sometimes from ordinary citizens.

The officers facing arrest today include the alleged ringleader, a
43-year-old man who won the Superintendent's Award for Valor, sources
said. The others are men between ages 28 and 32.

All four have been sued in federal court in cases alleging they
conducted searches without warrants. The city has settled with the
plaintiffs in most of those cases, which date to 2001, records show.
The payouts have ranged from about $10,000 to about $50,000 per case.

In some cases, the officers were accused of stealing cash, jewelry
and framing people with crimes they did not commit.

The Sun-Times is not identifying the officers because they have not
yet been charged with crimes.

Family's money stolen

Sources said prosecutors in the Cook County state's attorney's office
noticed last year that officers in the Special Operations Section
were not showing up for court in cases involving large amounts of
narcotics.

Some of the officers gave reasons for why they were not showing up,
such as being on medical leave, but investigators checked their
excuses and they did not add up, sources said.

The Sun-Times recently quoted defense attorney Joel Alan Whitehouse,
a former Cook County prosecutor, as saying he approached the state's
attorney's office after suspecting officers from the unit planted
$100,000 of cocaine on his client, Jose Hermosillo. Prosecutors
dropped the case against Hermosillo on Jan. 17.

Whitehouse said he believes the Hermosillo case figured into the
corruption investigation against the officers.

Another man, Miguel Melesio, said he and his family were targeted by
rogue officers from the unit, including the decorated officer and the
female officer whose police powers recently were stripped. The
officers allegedly stole about $13,000 in cash the family was saving
in the home, the Melesio family has told WMAQ Channel 5's Unit 5.

Alleged victims of the cops have been testifying before a grand jury,
sources say.