Feds charge heroin ring operated inside water department
By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer Published June 8, 2005, 1:10 PM CDT http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050608apwater,1,3696403.story?c oll=chi-news-hed Nine men and women, including three employees of the already scandal-plagued Chicago city water department, were arrested Wednesday as federal officials rolled up what they described as the Chicago branch of a Colombian heroin-trafficking operation. Eight individuals were arrested Wednesday morning in Chicago and one in New York on charges involving an alleged conspiracy to distribute sizable quantities of heroin on city streets. Among those charged was Gerald A. Prado, a hoisting engineer for the city's water department and the leader of the distribution cell, according to federal prosecutors. Also charged were Prado's brother-in-law, Anthony C. Ritacco, and Michael D. Hart, both identified by federal officials as low-level employees in the city water department. Chicago's water department has been the focus of a scandal involving the $38 million Hired Truck Program, under which the city outsources hauling jobs to private trucking companies. Donald Tomczak, the former deputy commissioner of the water department, is charged along with a number of aides and trucking company officials with a scheme under which bribes and campaign contributions were exchanged for work within the no-bids Hired Truck Program. Tomczak, who was in day-to-day charge of the department, is not alleged to have had any involvement in the drug-trafficking ring. Federal officials said an unnamed Individual A who was a water department employee had cooperated in the investigation and provided key information that led to the fresh charges. Federal officials said that on March 10, about 100 grams of heroin were seized when Individual A tried to sell it to another cooperating witness who had first told them of the ring. They said that on May 24, Vito J. Renteria, 45, of Chicago, described as a courier for the ring, was stopped by state police for lacking a valid driver's license and a kilogram of heroin was seized. They said Renteria later tried and failed to explain losing the drugs to Prado. Prado allegedly then called two other ring members and discussed kidnaping, beating and possibly killing Renteria for failing to come up with the drugs. If convicted, each individual faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life as well as a $4 million fine, federal officials said. Copyright C 2005, <http://www.chicagotribune.com/> Chicago Tribune [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
