A former suburban Chicago police officer has been convicted on federal corruption charges for his role in a scheme that allegedly saw him and his sergeant steal more than $15,000 in cash and drugs from at least 10 motorists during traffic stops.
Antoine Larry, 49, of Bolingbrook, was found guilty Friday on all four counts against him, including conspiracy, extortion, and attempted extortion, following a two-week trial in Chicago, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors alleged that Larry, while serving as a patrol officer for the Village of Phoenix Police Department, conspired with his sergeant, Jarrett Snowden of Lansing, to solicit and demand cash and controlled substances from vehicle occupants during traffic stops in Phoenix and Harvey. The scheme ran from at least 2020 until April 2022, prosecutors said.
According to Snowden’s plea agreement, the officers would order occupants out of their vehicles during traffic stops and physically restrain them, sometimes using handcuffs. The pair then allegedly obtained cash and “other things of value, including controlled substances” from the occupants in exchange for reducing charges, dropping them entirely, declining to press charges, or agreeing not to tow or impound the vehicles, prosecutors said.
In some instances, prosecutors said, the officers used coded language when demanding bribes, arranged for payments to be dropped off at a gas station, or used an intermediary to collect cash on their behalf. In other cases, the officers allegedly sold stolen controlled substances to a drug dealer and split the proceeds
The amounts taken ranged from minimal sums to more than $1,000 each, according to court documents. In total, prosecutors said at least 10 individuals were victimized, with bribes valued at more than $15,000 taken.
To conceal their alleged thefts, the officers falsified police reports to avoid reflecting the items they had seized, prosecutors said.
Both men are awaiting sentencing.
