DuPage man sues ex-Schaumburg cops using racketeering claim
A DuPage County man has filed the 17th lawsuit against two of the three former Schaumburg police officers who were charged with multiple drug conspiracy charges in January 2013.
But Sean Cerami's lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution by former undercover cops Terrance O'Brien and Matthew Hudak is the first to make a federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, claim, according to Schaumburg's attorney Jim Sotos.
Such a claim is usually used to help the government prosecute organized crime, Sotos said.
Cerami's attorney, Richard Dvorak, said the claim stems from the combination of malicious prosecution and the alleged theft of hundreds of dollars by O'Brien.
Drug-related charges against Cerami were dropped in August 2013, based on the accusations against O'Brien and Hudak.
Sotos said the village will seek to have Cerami's suit dismissed. Ten of the other suits against the village have been settled out of court.