2 AUSTIN OFFICERS WHO COPPED PLEA SENTENCED

Two former Austin District tactical police officers who broke the code of
silence and confessed to ripping off suspected drug dealers of cash and
sometimes cocaine were sentenced Wednesday to reduced prison terms in return
for their cooperation.

Gregory S. Crittleton, who admitted taking part in three home invasions, was
sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison, while Lennon Shields, who once
helped rob an undercover cop posing as a drug dealer, was given a 5-year
prison term.

Crittleton was facing a maximum sentence of 14 years and Shields could have
received a maximum of about 8 years.

At about the same time, in a separate courtroom, a West Side gang leader who
teamed up with Crittleton and other Austin officers to rob drug dealers of
cash and cocaine was sentenced to life imprisonment for helping run the
gang's multimillion-dollar cocaine and heroin operation.

Terry Young, head of a major faction of the Traveling Vice Lords, had sought
leniency, citing his extensive community involvement. But prosecutors
ridiculed the claim, saying Young's gang was responsible for distributing
hundreds of pounds of cocaine on West Side street corners.

Included in the community work claimed by Young, a Republican committeeman
in Chicago, was counseling schoolchildren to stay off drugs, prosecutors said.

Crittleton, 34, and Shields, 32, are the first to be sentenced of the
so-called Austin 7--seven tactical officers from the Far West Side police
district accused of shaking down an undercover cop they thought was a drug
dealer. Their arrests in December 1996 rocked the Chicago Police Department,
whose internal affairs division played a critical role with the FBI in the
undercover probe, code-named Operation Broken Star.

The other five, including ringleader Edward Lee "Pacman" Jackson Jr., are
scheduled to be sentenced in coming weeks.

Crittleton's lawyer, Robert Clarke, criticized how Crittleton, with less
than two years on the force, was given a sensitive plainclothes assignment
as a tactical officer and questioned how the shakedowns could escape the
attention of higher-ups in the Austin District at the time.

Clarke suggested that Crittleton had little chance of not getting caught up
in the corruption after he was put in the tactical unit with more
experienced officers "who were really a pack of thieves."

"This was so extensive and went on for so long, it would be a miracle that
people didn't know about it" even before Crittleton joined the tactical
unit, Clarke said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Brian Netols, who led the prosecution, took issue with
Clarke's comments, saying the officers had a duty to report the corruption.

"This problem was allowed to fester because of defendants who now
conveniently blame the Police Department," Netols said. "They were part of
the problem for not coming forward and instead joining in the corruption."

Shields received the lighter sentence from U.S. District Judge Ann Williams
because he began cooperating days after his arrest and was involved in a
single robbery of a drug dealer nicknamed "Silky"--in reality undercover
Chicago Police Officer Eugene Shepherd.

Crittleton's sentence was longer than Shields' because Crittleton didn't
plead guilty until shortly before trial and he had taken part in home
invasions of three suspected drug dealers.

Shields apologized to the people of Chicago, who he said placed their trust
in him.

Williams ordered that, after his release from prison, Shields give back to
the community by doing 500 hours of work for undetermined civic or
charitable causes.

Both officers benefited greatly by cooperating with authorities. Clarke
estimated that if Crittleton had gone to trial and been convicted, he would
have faced more than 50 years in prison.

Young, the 34-year-old gang leader, teamed up with his friend Jackson on at
least four robberies or attempted robberies of drug dealers, according to
Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Hersh.

A wiretap on Young's cellular telephone picked up a series of conversations
in which Young and Jackson discussed whether to buy a kilogram of cocaine
from one drug dealer or rob him of it, Hersh said.

The two decided to buy the cocaine from the dealer to see where he kept his
cash; a few days later they returned and robbed the man, Hersh said.