Former Chicago Police Officer Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Federal Prison for Fraudulently Obtaining Search Warrants and Obstructing Justice

CHICAGO — A former Chicago Police officer was sentenced today to nearly six years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining search warrants and stealing cash and drugs from properties he searched.

U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly imposed the 71-month sentence on DAVID SALGADO after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.  Last month, Judge Kennelly sentenced Salgado’s former Chicago Police partner, XAVIER ELIZONDO, to seven years and three months in prison.

The sentences were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.  The Chicago Police Department provided valuable assistance.

Salgado, 39, and Elizondo, 48, both of Chicago, were assigned to a gang team in the Chicago Police Department’s Tenth District.  The officers conspired to submit materially false information to state court judges to fraudulently obtain search warrants that enabled them to enter various properties and seize cash and drugs.  The officers would then steal the items and falsify police reports to conceal the thefts. 

A jury in October 2019 convicted Elizondo and Salgado on all counts against them, including conspiracy to commit theft, deprivation of civil rights, embezzlement, and obstruction of justice. Salgado was also convicted of making a false statement to the FBI.

“The defendants fundamentally betrayed the trust placed in them by the public and the state’s criminal justice system,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean J.B. Franzblau and Ankur Srivastava argued in the government’s joint sentencing memorandum.  “The defendants not only harmed individual victims, but they also impaired the public’s confidence in law enforcement.”