Chicago cop in crooked tow truck scheme is now tow driver himself

A Chicago cop who went to federal prison for taking a bribe from a tow truck driver is now a tow truck driver himself, court records show.

In 2014, Ali Haleem was sentenced to 15 months in prison for attempted extortion and transferring guns to a felon.

Haleem, 49, was caught in an FBI tows-for-bribes investigation. In 2008, a female FBI agent posed as a motorist with a flat tire on her SUV. Two male FBI agents posed as tow truck drivers.

Haleem ordered the male FBI agents to leave the scene and directed the female agent to use another tow truck operator, who later paid Haleem a $300 bribe plus $200 for a handgun.

Haleem also unsuccessfully plotted to bribe an alderman in return for a promotion in the police department, prosecutors said.

Haleem has completed his prison term and was about halfway through his two years of probation. On Thursday, Judge John Z. Lee agreed to end Haleem’s supervision early after his attorney told the court that Haleem was working two part-time jobs as a tow truck driver and had paid a $6,000 fine and $2,500 in restitution.

Haleem had received a break in his prison sentence because he cooperated with the feds. He secretly recorded two Cook County employees accepting cash and boasting how they’d rig property tax appeals in return. The employees, Thomas Hawkins and John Racasi, both went to prison.