Well, looks like Chicago gets their man once again.  Tom Gunther, rumored to be the main reason Chicago Police changed their custom-die badges in the last two years has once again been charged.  More rumors abound as well, saying that the new Illinois badge law quoted in the following Chicago Tribune articles is pretty much a direct result of Gunther's activities.
 

Man charged with selling police badges


Published May 27, 2006

SCHAUMBURG -- A Schaumburg man with hundreds of law enforcement badges--some authentic, some fake--got a visit from officers wearing real badges this week and on Friday was charged under a new state law prohibiting the sale of such emblems.

Thomas Gunther, 62, of the 1000 block of Tiverton Court sold badges from police departments across the country, said Penny Mateck, Cook County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Gunther, a part-time police officer in Burnham, turned himself in Friday and was charged with a misdemeanor and released on $1,000 bail, Mateck said. Burnham police officials could not be reached.

A state law enacted this year, and proposed by Sheriff Michael Sheahan , makes it illegal to distribute, produce or sell badges without the consent of the law enforcement agency represented on the badge.

Gunther sold an unknown number of badges--priced from $100 to $800 each--over the Internet and at collectors shows, police said.

More than 200 badges, emblems, parts and clasps, and several copies of the law were confiscated Thursday in a basement workshop in Gunther's home, police said.

During a two-month investigation, Gunther sold a fake Chicago police patrol officer's badge to an undercover officer for $375, police said.

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0605270125may27,1,15827.story?
coll=chi-newslocal-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Officers say no to suburban man's sale of badges

Chicago Tribune
By Brendan McCarthy
May 26, 2006

A Schaumburg man with hundreds of law enforcement badges some authentic, some fake got a visit from officers wearing real badges this week and on Friday was charged under a new state law prohibiting the sale of such emblems.

Thomas Gunther, 62, of the 1000 block of Tiverton Court sold badges from police departments across the country, said Penny Mateck, Cook County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Gunther, a part-time police officer in Burnham, turned himself in Friday and was charged with a misdemeanor and released on $1,000 bail, Mateck said.

Burnham police officials could not be reached.

A state law enacted this year, and proposed by Sheriff Michael Sheahan , makes it illegal to distribute, produce or sell badges without the consent of the law enforcement agency represented on the badge.

Gunther sold an unknown number of badges priced from $100 to $800 each over the Internet and at collectors shows, police said. The actual cost of badges is about $50 apiece, police said.

More than 200 badges, emblems, parts and clasps, and several copies of the law were confiscated Thursday in a basement workshop in Gunther's home, police said.

During a two-month investigation, Gunther sold a fake Chicago police patrol officer's badge to an undercover officer for $375, police said.

Gunther is scheduled to appear July 18 in Circuit Court in Maywood.

Man Accused Of Selling Real And Fake Police Badges

(STNG) MAYWOOD, Ill. A Schaumburg man has been charged under a new Illinois law with illegally manufacturing and selling law enforcement badges, according to a release.

Thomas Gunther, 62, of 1040 Tiverton Ct. in the northwest suburb, was charged Friday by Cook County Sheriff’s Special Operations officers with one count of false law enforcement badges and he could face up to a year in prison, according to a release from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

Officers initiated an investigation of Gunther, who serves as a part-time Burnham police officer, in March, according to the release, and on one occasion in March, an undercover officer purchased a fake Chicago Police patrolman’s badge for $375. The actual cost of most badges is about $50, the release said.

Sherriff’s deputies, along with the Chicago Police Internal Affairs and Organized Crime officers, executed a warrant at Gunther’s home on Thursday morning and confiscated more than 200 badges, along with emblems, parts and clasps used in the construction of badges, the release said.

Among the badges seized were a real sheriff’s sergeant’s star, a Chicago Police superintendent’s star, Roselle chief’s badge and officers badges from Hoffman Estates, Dixmoor and Calumet City, the release said. They were found in wooden display boxes with corresponding patches with price tags ranging from $100 to $800 each, the release said.

The new law took effect Jan. 1, and a copy of the law was found among the badges in Gunther’s residence, the release said. He allegedly violated it because he did not have permission from the Sheriff’s Department or Chicago Police to sell badges, and investigators are looking into whether he had permission from the other departments, the release said.

Gunther was free after posting $100 of a $1,000 bond Friday and was assigned a July 18 court date in Maywood, the release said.

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

With the National Police Collector's Show scheduled for just a month away in Rosemont, Illinois, rumor has it that the hobby is very worried about the repercussions of the law as well as this arrest.  The show hosts have had assurances from the Illinois Attorney General as well as local police chiefs that the show will not be the subject of police scrutiny.  That is probably true.  It must be remembered that Gunther's activities in this hobby has hurt both collectors and law enforcement agencies.  His constant faking of badges just to make a buck is part of what is wrong with the badge collecting hobby.

 

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