Cook County sheriff's police official and son arrested in federal sting

Cook County sheriff's police official and son arrested in federal sting


By Ashley Rueff
Tribune reporter
9:48 PM CDT, March 16, 2012

A longtime Cook County sheriff’s police official has been charged with accepting a $10,000 cash payoff wrapped in a newspaper and handed to him literally under the table at a restaurant in return for allegedly agreeing to protect an illegal cigarette operation.

“I got something for you to read,” an informant who sold contraband cigarettes as part of a two-year undercover federal investigation was quoted by authorities as saying as he allegedly handed the newspaper to Lawrence A. “Larry” Draus on Jan. 30. “... I got 10 nice articles for you to read. ... Enough said.”

Draus and his son, Lawrence E. “Eric” Draus, were charged with extortion in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in federal court.

The younger Draus was also charged with purchasing more than 10,000 illegal cigarettes. Both were released on signature bonds.

According to the complaint, the senior Draus was assigned to the sheriff’s police vice unit that is responsible for investigations into counterfeit merchandise.

Authorities said the informant and a second cooperating witness began working undercover after being charged with fraud.

Over the last two years, the two have sold millions of dollars worth of unstamped cigarettes to a number of targets in the Chicago area, authorities said.

Most of the sales took place in a warehouse secretly operated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that was equipped with cameras that captured audio and video of the meetings, according to the complaint.

At the meeting in which the $10,000 was passed, the informant asked the elder Draus to scare off an individual who had purportedly walked in on an illegal cigarette delivery, authorities said.

Two days later, Draus, with what appeared to be a police badge around his neck, pulled up behind the individual’s vehicle parked near the undercover warehouse, according to the charges.

Draus allegedly confronted the individual about hanging around the area, saying there had been numerous complaints, the complaint said. Draus was then quoted in the charges as telling the individual, “Hit the road.”

The individual was in fact an informant working secretly with ATF, authorities said.

Frank Bilecki, a spokesman for Sheriff Tom Dart, said the office has been cooperating with federal authorities in the undercover probe since last summer.

On Tuesday Draus was led to believe he was meeting with other sheriff’s personnel at the jail complex on the West Side, Bilecki said. On his arrival there, he was arrested and taken into custody by federal and county officials, he said.

Bilecki said Draus, a 35-year department veteran, was relieved of his duties following his arrest.

A hearing could take place as soon as next week to decide if his pay will be suspended while he awaits trial on the criminal charge.

Bilecki said Draus has been assigned to the sheriff’s animal crimes unit for the last three to four years.

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