longtime Chicago police lieutenant pleads guilty



By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune reporter
December 6, 2013

A former longtime Chicago police lieutenant pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving a Northwest Side real estate mogul and a crooked former suburban police chief.
Erroll Davis, 52, choked up as he entered his guilty plea in federal court to one count of making false statements in a tax return. Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan that Davis faces 12 to 18 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but that they would recommend a lighter sentence if he continues to cooperate. Davis, a 27-year police veteran who spent years with the marine unit, resigned from the department after the charges were announced last month.
Robert Michael, 62, a former CEO of the now-defunct Citizens Bank and Trust, has pleaded not guilty to charges he hoodwinked his own bank into illegally lending $650,000 to Davis for the fraudulent purchase of an apartment building in the South Chicago neighborhood.
The building was actually owned by Regina Evans, the former police chief of Country Club Hills, who owed Michael's bank and realty company more than $300,000 in mortgage payments on the building and rent for a nightclub. But the bank loan instead went to pay off Evans' debt, and Davis was given a $30,000 check for his troubles, according to court records.
Davis admitted in his plea agreement he lied on the loan application and failed to claim the $30,000 as income on his 2008 tax return. Evans, who was not charged, is scheduled to be sentenced next week in a separate case for stealing state grant money.