Oct. 26--Federal officials say they have foiled a grisly extortion plot involving two former police officers -- one of them released from Death Row nearly 15 years ago -- who plotted to abduct and dismember a man they believed had access to large amounts of cash from real estate holdings.
Steven Mandell, 61, of Buffalo Grove, and Gary Engel, 61, of Homer Glen, are charged with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion. Mandell had been sentenced to death for murder and kidnapping but his case was overturned in 1998.
Mandell, formerly known as Steven Manning, was a Chicago police officer for about 10 years until 1983. Engel is a former Willow Springs police officer.
During a brief court appearance today in federal court, Mandell and Engel sat handcuffed in the jury box, clad in orange jumpsuits. Shortly before the hearing began, Mandell smiled at a reporter sitting in the courtroom and appeared to mouth the letters "BS" -- an apparent reference to his opinion of the charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown held Mandell and Engel over until a detention hearing on Wednesday. Prosecutors want both detained as dangers and flight risks.
The two were arrested Thursday evening on the Northwest Side as they allegedly planned to "arrest" the man and bring him to an office outfitted with a sink, a counter and shower.
They had "prop" firearms and fake law enforcement credentials, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Engel also possessed handcuffs and Mandell had a fake arrest document that appeared to name the victim as a criminal defendant.
After the arrests, FBI agents searched the area where the two planned to abduct the man and seized a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and additional ammunition, as well as saws, a butcher knife and zip-ties used for use as restraints.
Mandell and Engel intended to abduct the man, known as "Soupie" or "Soupie Sales," during a fake arrest while the victim attended a meeting with another person identified only as Individual A, prosecutors said.
They planned to take the man to a nearby office, which they called "Club Med," where they planned to force the man to turn over cash and about 25 commercial real estate holdings and then kill him, prosecutors said.
During the investigation, which included audio and video recordings, Mandell speculated the victim generated as much as $100,000 a month in cash from rental properties. At one time, Mandell and Engel discussed demanding at least $500,000 from the victim to be released, while still planning to murder the victim, prosecutors said.
During the last month, Mandell arranged to outfit "Club Med" with a large deep sink, a long counter and a shower, according to federal officials.
"He took possession of the extortion location this past Monday, and met there with Engel over the next three days to plan how they would abduct the victim while posing as police officers, how they would restrain the victim, and dismember the victim after the extortion and murder," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.
On Oct. 10, Mandell discussed the plot with Individual A, telling the person: "My guy knows what he's doing, he knows how to waterboard, do interrogation, psy-ops," according to the affidavit.
Mandell and Engel allegedly discussed using the counter and sink area to drain the victim's blood before dismembering the body.
Federal officials say Mandell was known as Steven Manning when he worked as a Chicago police officer from 1973 to 1983.
Mandell was also the leader of a burglary ring, according to law enforcement officials. In 1993, he was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering trucking company owner James Pellegrino, who was found in the Des Plaines River two months after his disappearance in 1990 with a bullet wound to the head.
Pellegrino's wife testified that her husband warned her Manning might kill him, but the conviction was overturned in 1998 when the Illinois Supreme Court found a Cook County judge improperly admitted testimony, including Pellegrino's wife's, and some evidence into the trial.
At the time of the murder conviction, Manning had already been convicted in 1992 of kidnapping a drug dealer in Missouri, but that conviction was also overturned.
Mandell sued two FBI agents following his release from prison, claiming they framed him in Pellegrino's murder. While he won the case, he lost a similar case against the federal government and collected no money in the lawsuits.
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