A federal
judge had harsh word words today for a former Chicago police sergeant as she
sentenced him to 22 months in prison for stealing thousands of dollars from a
purported drug courier who turned out to be an informant for the FBI in an
undercover sting.
The
sentence for Ronald Watts, a 19-year police veteran who resigned before
pleading guilty last summer, exceeded the 10-to-16-month range called for under
federal sentencing guidelines but fell short of the three years in prison
sought by prosecutors.
U.S.
District Judge Sharon Coleman called the African-American officer’s actions an
unconscionable betrayal to his community and fellow police officers. She said
the misconduct by Watts, who worked in the Ida B. Wells public housing
development, was particularly egregious because he picked on a vulnerable
population already wracked by poverty and crime.
“You were
a sergeant operating in a community that should hold you up as an example,” the
judge said. “You needed to protect those people, and you didn’t.”
Watts, at
the time a Wentworth District tactical sergeant, and Officer Kallatt Mohammed
were arrested in early 2012 after they were caught stealing drug proceeds with
the help of a courier who was secretly working for the FBI.
Mohammed
pleaded guilty last summer and said he and Watts had demanded protection
payoffs from drug dealers at the now-shuttered Ida B. Wells complex on the
South Side in 2007 and 2008. Mohammed, who did not agree to testify against
Watts, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
On the
eve of his trial in July, Watts instead pleaded guilty to one count of theft of
government funds.
Watts had
no comment moments before the judge imposed the 22-month prison term.