Video game sting takes down East St. Louis police chief

[stevo]

The part in bold is insane. You can have two felony convictions, and still be a police chief.

While most cops protect and serve, former East St. Louis police chief Michael Baxton apparently likes to play.

Baxton pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing four Xbox 360 consoles from the FBI, reports St. Louis news station KSDK.

To be clear, the 360 is not standard issue equipment for the Feds these days. Officials had them in the car as part of a sting operation after suspicions arose about the chief's conduct.

Baxton, who faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000, came under suspicion of offering preferential treatment to some suspects and stealing/selling items from the evidence locker. That's when the FBI decided to test him.

Agents bought five Xbox 360s, put them in the trunk of a car, then reported the car as being stolen. Baxton and another officer responded to the call -- and sure enough, when they saw the Xboxes, the chief ordered the officer to put four in his car and keep one for himself.

"Unbeknownst to Baxton, the unnamed officer voluntarily came forward to report other acts of misconduct occurring in Alorton and had been assisting the federal investigation from its inception. The unnamed officer was equipped with covert surveillance devices at the time of the theft -- and he audio and video recorded the entire incident," reads the court record.

Officials tracked one of the Xboxes and found it being used in Baxton's basement. But the U.S. Attorney overseeing the case said Baxton lied and tried to frame another officer when confronted.

Baxton's attorney calls the incident a "monumental lapse of judgment."

Ironically, this isn't the former chief's first brush with the other side of the law. It turns out Baxton had two felony convictions from 1982 before he was appointed: one for theft and another for burglary. Those convictions were expunged in 1989.

The town really can't catch a break when it comes to law enforcement officials. Baxton, after all, got the job of chief when the former chief was convicted of federal tax crimes.

Stevo

[talisman]

Sad.

[Grimpala]

Any guesses on his race?

[stevo]

Any guesses on his race?

Stevo

[Treadhead]

Pathetic.

[SMKR]

Ideal candidate for DPD chief

[03trubluGT]

If the records were expunged? How did the media find out?

[CJ]

He tried to frame another officer? What a piece of shit.

[Broncojohnny]

Hopefully he gets that new game, Federal Pound Me in the Ass Prison IV, for the Xbox. I hear it is a lot more realistic than the last version.

[SMKR]

If the records were expunged? How did the media find out?

His ex wife

[Roscoe]

You must not have ever been to east STL.... He's a poster child compared to the area....

[stevo]

If the records were expunged? How did the media find out?

Per Wiki:

If certain requirements are met, Missouri law allows a person to have an arrest record expunged, which the law of Missouri defines as the process of legally destroying, obliterating or striking out records or information in files, computers and other depositories relating to criminal charges.[16]

A person is eligible for expungement in Missouri if the arrest was based on false information and the following conditions exist:[16]

There is no probable cause to believe the person committed the offense;
No charges will be pursued as a result of the arrest;
The person has no prior or subsequent misdemeanor or felony convictions;
The person did not receive a suspended imposition of sentence for the offense; and
No civil action is pending relating to the arrest or records sought to be expunged.

If a person qualifies, in order to have the records expunged, they must file a verified petition for expungement in the civil division of the Circuit Court in the county of the arrest.[16] The court sets a hearing on the matter no sooner than thirty days after the petition was filed.[16] If the court finds that the petitioner is entitled to expungement of any record, it will enter an order directing expungement.[16]

Records expunged under this provision still may be opened to law enforcement if the person is charged with a subsequent offense or if any of the requirements of expungement no longer are met.

I'm not sure if that means anything though.

EDIT: Wrong state, I assumed it was Missouri, it is actually Illinois:

Illinois

Illinois law allows the sealing or expungement of parts of the records of a conviction.[15] Sealing a conviction prevents the public, including employers, from gaining access to that record.[15] To be eligible for sealing of a conviction record in Illinois one must have been sentenced to supervision.[15] A waiting period of four years also is required, beginning at the time of discharge from supervision, where no convictions were entered.[15] Some misdemeanors are ineligible for sealing.[15] All felony convictions are ineligible for sealing except for class 4 felony drug possession and prostitution offenses.[15]

Stevo

[stevo]

Maybe this:

In May, 2011, he was hired to be Alorton police chief to replace Robert L. Cummings, who pleaded guilty of federal tax crimes.

Baxton lost that job in October 2011, when the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board revoked his police license over felony theft and burglary convictions in Madison County in 1982. Baxton sued and the following month a St. Clair County judge reinstated his credentials after finding that the criminal record had been expunged in 1989.

Stevo

[stevo]

Holy shit, that place is about as corrupt as they come:

Baxton has been under fire since we broadcast the first in a series of reports about his criminal arrest record, and the arrest records of many of his officers. News 4 Investigates learned that at least 19 current officers, including the Chief, has been charged with a felony or criminal misdemeanor. That's one out of every four officers. Four of them were convincted of assault or battery.

His son:

Officer Michael Baxton Jr., 23, was released from the Army in 2005 without completing his term of service because of misconduct and left with a general discharge under honorable conditions. His discharge papers say he failed to show up for formation, failed to comply with corrective training, was disrespectful to a noncommissioned officer, provided improper identification and failed to hand over his license when asked.

On Sept. 15, 2007, his former employer, the Brooklyn Police Department, caught him driving one of its police cars. He took the car without permission after he was no longer employed there, according to a police officer's report. Brooklyn police did not return calls for comment on that case."

The new recruits include officer Larry D. Greenlee, 36, who served 15 days in jail in 1993 in Texas' Bell County for assault that caused the victim "bodily harm," according to court documents. He said on his application that he had been fined for fighting there, Betts said, but did not mention the assault conviction. The city did not investigate the incident.

Greenlee was arrested for aggravated assault in St. Clair County in 1996; the case was dismissed in 1997. He also has been cited for operating an uninsured vehicle. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Officer Lawrence Wood, 41, gave the city an alias on his application; he had an outstanding warrant for a domestic battery on Feb. 9, 1997, under the name Lawrence Johnson.

Wood has since been let go from the department; he declined to comment.

A criminal records search in St. Clair County revealed that, as Lawrence Wood, he also was found guilty of battery and criminal damage to property in 1992, as well as two instances of criminal trespassing in 1993 and 1994. Wood has been cited twice for driving on a suspended license and four times for operating an uninsured vehicle.

His wife, Debra Wood, also an East St. Louis police officer, swore him in at the June 16 ceremony. She declined to comment.

In May, East St. Louis police Officer Debra Simpkins was charged with obstruction for allegedly trying to block Belleville police from dispersing a crowd of teens and investigating a fight. The case is pending.

In September, Belleville police foundEast St. Louis Detective Ricky Perry allegedly drunk, asleep and armed in his unmarked police vehicle. The detective was released to other East St. Louis employees and not arrested.

This shit just goes on and on... Typical Illinois corruption I guess.

Stevo

[JasonRR]

I went to jail once in East St Louis when I got into a fight at the Penthouse Club after ROC one year...2005, I think? Not fun. Not at all.

I also once passed out in a rental car in the parking lot of that very same establishment. I was there for 4hrs with the radio playing a TX country CD, my phone and wallet laying there...and the car running, all four windows down. My friends came out at like 8am to find the parking lot now nearly empty, except for this one car idling in the corner with country music coming out of all 4 windows, and me sleeping like a rock in the reclined passenger seat. We still laugh about it, and no one can figure out how I didn't end up getting carjacked that night.

Crazy times in East STL, for sure...but this level of corruption still surprises me. It probably shouldn't, but still does.