CHICAGO -- A federal judge said Monday that a sealed FBI document suggests Chicago's former top detective, accused of running a major jewel-theft ring, may also have taken money from a mob figure.
The remark brought a sharp protest from defense attorneys, and at their request U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle moved the remainder of the hearing to his chambers and sealed the transcript.
The hearing was in the case of William Hanhardt, the former Chicago chief of detectives who is charged with masterminding a ring of thieves that stole an estimated $4.85 million in jewelry, gems and watches.
The court was considering a request from Hanhardt's attorney, Thomas Sullivan, for information about underworld informants whose help to the government led to wiretaps on the former top detective's home telephone.
Hanhardt's attorneys are searching for anything concerning the informants that might help keep the intercepted conversations from reaching the ears of jurors at the trial, which is set to start Sept. 4.
In denying Sullivan's request, Norgle summarized an 80-page FBI affidavit in which 11 informants are named and seven others unnamed. The document was presented by prosecutors to justify the need for wiretaps.
Norgle quoted the affidavit as saying that one informant told how Hanhardt and another officer attended a meeting for "dealings" with the mobster at a site on Grand Avenue in Chicago.
Because the affidavit was under seal, Norgle said, he would identify informants and others mentioned only by their initials. Neither the other officer nor the mobster were identified at the hearing.
At the meeting, Norgle quoted the document as saying, Hanhardt and the officer "took a substantial amount of money from the $17,000 the mob figure had at the time." The mobster is now dead, the document said.
But mention of the mob money brought a strenuous protest from Sullivan, who said the affidavit was sealed and its contents were secret.
"You have two newspaper reporters sitting right here in your courtroom," Sullivan said. He said that the court should avoid any "unnecessary newspaper publicity about things that are under seal."
Norgle said he had been careful not to use the names of those mentioned in the affidavit. He also said jurors would be carefully chosen to make certain that they were not biased by pretrial publicity.
But that failed to satisfy Sullivan. Norgle then moved the hearing to his chambers and the rest of the proceedings were put under seal.
The government apparently filed the affidavit under seal to protect informants. Norgle said some informants are "in fear of their lives" as a result of their cooperation with prosecutors.
Hanhardt retired from the police department in 1986 after 33 years on the force.