Owner of attorney referral service is accused of paying cops for crash reports
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The owner of an attorney referral service in suburban Chicago has been accused of paying two Chicago police officers to obtain vehicle crash reports before they were available to the public.
Richard Burton, 55, of Bloomingdale, Illinois, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly paying at least $13,350 to the officers, according to a press release issued last Friday and indictment. He is accused of using the information to solicit accident victims as clients for lawyers.
The Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and WGN-TV have stories.
Crash reports in Chicago aren’t public during a processing period that ranges from 24 hours to several weeks. After that, members of the public can request copies of a report for a fee, according to the indictment.
The website of the National Attorney Referral Service says it refers nearly 25,000 attorney referrals to members of the public each year.
Burton is represented by lawyers Dena Singer and Jonathan Bedi, who declined to comment.
The officers, Kevin Tate, 47, and Milot Cadichon, 46, were charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Tate is accused of accepting at least $6,000, while Cadichon was accused of accepting at least $7,350.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson released a statement saying the officers have been relieved of their police powers pending the outcome of the federal investigation.
