Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jul 2000
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2000 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
Author: Art Barnum and Ted Gregory

FORMER DETECTIVE ADMITS TO OBSTRUCTION

Ex-Bensenville Cop Gets Probation Term

Bensenville Police Department's former top detective struck a plea
bargain with prosecutors Thursday, avoiding prison by pleading guilty
to reduced charges and agreeing to testify against a former colleague.

William Wassman, 39, who resigned in September after a 14-year career
with the department, pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of
attempted obstruction of justice. He received a sentence of 2 years
probation and 40 hours of community service.

Indicted in February 1999, Wassman was the first officer implicated in
an investigation of the Police Department that led to the
resignations, retirements and dismissals of more than 20 officers
since January 1999. Most of those departures stemmed from the police
officers' unreported earnings from an unlicensed private security firm
run from the police station for an estimated 15 years beginning about
1983.

As part of the agreement, Wassman also stated he would testify "fully
and truthfully" at the upcoming trial of former Bensenville Police
Sgt. Joseph DeAnda, who was indicted in March on allegations of
stealing $6,000 confiscated in drug and gambling raids. DeAnda, who
had been on unpaid suspension for months, resigned in June.

The original charges against Wassman alleged that he relabeled cocaine
stored as evidence and used it against drug suspect David Porter, even
though the cocaine was unrelated to Porter's case. The cocaine that
was to have been used in Porter's case was mistakenly destroyed after
a co-defendant's case. Wassman allegedly was trying to cover that mistake.

The incorrectly labeled cocaine was used to convict Porter for
possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 2 years of
probation. Porter's conviction was dismissed after Wassman's
indictment, said Neil Thompson, chief of the public integrity unit in
the DuPage County state's attorney's office.

Wassman, as chief of detectives, was in charge of evidence storage
from 1993 to 1996. He originally was charged with a series of felony
crimes, including obstruction of justice and official misconduct. In
addition, he was accused of altering other officers' statements that
they had seen him destroy drugs seized in arrests when they had not,
and failing to produce drug evidence when needed for trial.

He could have served up to 5 years in prison if convicted.

Wassman appeared relaxed Thursday in court. Afterward, he said any
mistakes he made "were human errors," and never did he have criminal
intentions. Currently employed as a mason, Wassman said he is glad to
have the case behind him.

He added that he has been friends with DeAnda for many years and
remains so today.

Thompson, who told Judge George Bakalis that Wassman already testified
about DeAnda to a grand jury, added that the dismissed charges against
Wassman could be reinstated if his testimony at DeAnda's trial is not
truthful.

Problems in the Bensenville Police Department began to surface in
January 1998, when federal agents and local authorities raided a
Bensenville tavern owned by DeAnda's family and found evidence of drug
trafficking. Village officials hired former assistant U.S. Atty.
Theodore Poulos, now in private practice in Chicago, to investigate
the department.

In addition to alleging the Police Department turned a blind eye to
illegal activities at the tavern, Poulos stated police officers earned
several hundred thousand dollars working for a private security firm,
known as Bensenville Security Services. In documents turned over to
the village, Poulos contended that the firm took in more than $720,000
between 1993 and January 1999, when village officials shut down the
security company.

Officers implicated in that business allegedly concealed more than
$124,000 during those six years, Poulos alleged.

Although Poulos submitted results of his investigation to federal
authorities, none of the Bensenville officers has been charged with
tax violations.

Supporters of the police officers maintained that Poulos'
investigation was driven by a village administration that wanted to
exert undue influence over the Police Department.

Wassman declined to comment on the turmoil in the Bensenville Police
Department.
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