Former suburban cop convicted of extorting motorists, stealing cash and drugs

A former south suburban police officer was convicted by a federal jury Friday of conspiring to rob motorists of cash and drugs during traffic stops and extorting people in exchange for declining to press charges or tow their vehicles.

After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for about half a day before finding Antoine “Bell” Larry, 46, a former patrol officer for the tiny village of Phoenix, guilty on all four counts he faced, including bribery conspiracy, extortion and attempted extortion.

Larry’s attorney, Beau Brindley, told the Tribune after the verdict that the case was fraught with unreliable witnesses and investigative mistakes, and that the defense will “continue to fight for Antoine Larry’s exoneration.”

“After proving outright dishonesty from each of the witnesses who incriminated Mr. Larry, and exposing recordings of FBI agents pressuring a witness to change his story, we believe reasonable doubt was obvious and are disappointed with the jury’s verdict,” Brindley said in a statement.

Larry, of Bolingbrook, was charged in 2023 along with his then-sergeant, Jarrett Snowden, with agreeing to use their official powers and positions as officers to rob and extort people they pulled over in both Phoenix and the neighboring suburb of Harvey, about 19 miles south of downtown Chicago.

The officers stole firearms, drugs and cash from targeted vehicles and their occupants, and also solicited cash payments in exchange for “reducing, dropping or declining to press charges” against the occupants, as well as allowing them to keep their vehicles instead of having them towed, according to the four-count indictment.

In some instances, Larry and Snowden arranged for the victims to meet them at a nearby gas station with bribe payments, the indictment alleged.

To conceal the conspiracy, the officers at times used a “bagman” to collect the payments, and also had an agreement to sell the narcotics they’d stolen to a drug dealer and split any proceeds from the eventual street sales 50/50, the indictment alleged.

Snowden pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in January 2024 and testified against Larry last week. Preliminary sentencing guidelines call for up to about 5½ years in prison for Snowden, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend a reduced prison term in exchange for his cooperation, court records show.

The trial also featured testimony from a handful of witnesses who said Larry and Snowden shook them down after traffic stops, mostly for minor or made up offenses.

One of them, Bernard Allison, told the jury last week that Larry and Snowden offered to make gun and assault charges go away for $2,000 after he was stopped in 2021 and resisted arrest while trying to flee. Larry later gave him a warning, Allison said.

“He said if I was any other skin color he wouldn’t be helping me like this,” Allison testified. “He told me don’t try to turn him in to the police cause ain’t nothing was gonna happen. People had tried to turn him in before and he was still working as a police officer.”

Asked why he agreed to pay them, Allison testified: “I was scared for my life, for one. And I just didn’t want to go to jail.”

Under cross-examination by Brindley, Allison admitted he was a drug dealer and convicted felon on the night Larry stopped him, and that when he first talked to the FBI he lied about the gun in his car and other incriminating evidence.

“Mr. Allison, when people lie, do you agree that it becomes hard to trust them?” Brindley asked.

“It all depends on the situation,” Allison said.

“In reality you were scared of getting caught with crack cocaine and a gun and going to prison, weren’t you?” Brindley asked.

“Absolutely,” Allison replied.

Phoenix and Harvey have long been hotbeds for corruption, with numerous police officers and politicians indicted over the years on charges ranging from extortion to murder.

The sensational 1979 murder of then-Phoenix Mayor William Hawkins was allegedly carried out by members of his own police department who were angry he wasn’t sharing siphoned-off government funds with them like he promised. A police lieutenant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, while another officer was acquitted at trial.

In 2019, the U.S. attorney’s office announced an array of corruption charges against people close to then-Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg, including Kellogg’s brother, Derrick Muhammad, a Harvey police officer, accused of falsifying a police report to protect two convicted felons from possibly facing weapons charges.

Muhammad pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2020 to nine months in prison.

A spokesperson for Phoenix could not be reached Friday for comment on Larry’s conviction.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com