Friday, January 30, 2009

Officer Jimmie L Akins Faces Federal Corruption Charges

Chicago police officer Jimmie L. Akins won’t have his day in court — at least the court of “Judge Jeanine Pirro.”

Akins, who faces federal corruptions charges in an alleged tow truck bribery scheme, played the part of the bailiff on Pirro’s courtroom show.

He has since lost the gig, said Laura Mandel, a spokeswoman with Telepictures Productions.

“Telepictures did its due diligence during the hiring process which included a background check,” Mandel said in a statement. “It did not reveal a federal investigation nor was Akins a member of the Chicago Police Department at the time. The show has completed taping of the first season and Jimmie Akins is no longer associated with the show.”

Pirro, a former district attorney in a county outside New York City, rules in her Chicago-based courtroom every day at 3 p.m. on WGN-Channel 9.

On today’s show, for instance, two friends “duke it out” over teenage pregnancy and drug use, according to Pirro’s Web site.

Akins will still appear in episodes that were previously taped.

The 41-year-old Akins allegedly charged tow truck drivers $100 each time they towed a car from a wreck he was supervising. He was the fourth Chicago police officer arrested in the scheme, which federal agents have been investigating since 2003.

Akins joined the police force in 1998, and declared bankruptcy in 2001, federal court documents said. He is no longer a Chicago police officer.

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