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Burge To Report To Same Prison As Madoff

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Jon Burge

Former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge (Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

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CHICAGO (CBS) – Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge is expected to report to prison later this week, and he could meet a jailhouse celebrity.

Burge was convicted last year of lying about torturing prisoners into making confessions. He was sentenced in January to 4 1/2 years in prison.

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He is set to report to prison Wednesday, in the same facility where Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff is serving his sentence.

The 72-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, which has both medium- and low-security facilities, as well as a medical center.

Burge is scheduled to report to the prison near Raleigh, N.C., by 2 p.m. Wednesday — a week after his name was conjured with the signing of a death penalty repeal in Illinois. Former Gov. George Ryan pardoned Death Row inmates who said Burge played a role in their convictions.

An attorney for Burge said his legal team worried about Burge being sent to a prison where he could encounter issues stemming from his days as a high-ranking police official.

“That was a major concern of ours. I would be shocked if they didn’t take that into consideration, where he would be designated,” William Gamboney said of the former Area 2 commander. At Butner, “I think that it would make it less likely that he’s going to be with the crazed criminals he was dealing with in Area 2,” he said. “It’s more white-collar crime.”

Reached at home Friday, Burge, who lives in the Tampa, Fla., area, declined comment.

A U.S. Bureau of Prisons official said she could not comment.

Attorneys asked the Bureau of Prisons to consider Burge’s many ailments when placing him. “That must have factored into the decision. He still has a bunch of different medical issues. There are some procedures that need to be done,” Gamboney said.

Burge, 63, had prostate cancer and needs a followup procedure in April, Gamboney said.

Since Burge was fired from the Police Department in 1993, his name has become synonymous with police brutality in Chicago.

Dozens of suspects accused Burge and the detectives under their command of shocking them with a homemade electrical device, suffocating them with typewriter bags, putting guns to their head and playing Russian roulette — all to force them to confess to murders they didn’t commit.

The Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire

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  • LittleOldLady

    This poor old guy. 4 years for telling an alleged lie? Probation would have been more than enough. This guy is no danger to society. I feel for him and his family. Maybe he can still get a pardon.

    • NWA

      Yeah, maybe his grand-children will visit him while he’s in the pokey?

      S.O.S.

      • Cindy

        What the hell is the matter with you NWA? What kind of nasty comment is that to make? This guy is about to go to prison for practically nothing.

      • NWA

        @Cindy:

        You really need to put the drink down. This jerko and is worse than the thugs he claimed he wanted to catch. So, maybe his grand-children will visit him while he’s in the pokey?

        S.O.S.

    • Gladys

      I agree, why send him to prison for allegedly lieing. The alleged lie was also about ancient history. This case should have never been brought to court. There are plenty of black homies for the courts to concentrate on, and they are a genuine threat to society.

      • NWA

        Actually, the real threat to society is white republicans.

        S.O.S.

      • Gregg

        @NWA Why do you hate white people so much? And what does any of this have to do with politics? You are a racist African.

      • NWA

        @Gregg:

        That would be African-American too you Gregg! And, have you read your own post? It so easy to talk or, post racist trash when you’re not face-to-face with the person from the other race.

        S.O.S.

  • Zarathrusta

    For some reason I don’t see Obama pardoning this guy. BUT – maybe he can get Bernie Madoff to pay his legal fees.

  • Gregg

    NWA is obviously a police hater.

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    [...] Burge To Report To Same Prison As Madoff Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge is expected to report to prison later this week, and he could meet a jailhouse celebrity. Read more on CBS Chicago [...]

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    [...] He is set to report to prison Wednesday, in the same facility where Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff is serving his sentence. [...]

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