Jeff Cramer, Burge prosecutor steps down

In nearly a decade with the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, he took on defendants including media baron Conrad Black and successfully prosecuted one of only two federal death-penalty cases ever tried in Chicago.

Now, Jeff Cramer, who became a leader in the federal prosecutor's office in his time there, is leaving to take a post heading the Chicago office of a private investigative firm.

His departure creates a void in another prominent case -- that of former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge, who's set to go to trial in January on charges stemming from allegations of beatings and torture of suspects by officers in his command. Cramer had been the chief prosecutor in the case against Burge, who was originally set for trial this month before getting a delay.

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