Convicted Chicago police official to keep pension

CHICAGO – A former Chicago police official convicted of lying about the torture of suspects gets to keep his $3,000-a-month pension.

The police pension board said Thursday that the motion to end benefits for 63-year-old Jon Burge failed by a 4-4 vote. It required five votes to pass.

Burge was sentenced last week to 4½ years in prison on his June conviction of lying in a civil lawsuit when he said he'd never participated in or witnessed the physical abuse of suspects. He has never been criminally charged with abuse.

The board members who voted to let Burge keep the pension said his conviction wasn't directly related to his job as an officer. But some alleged victims of abuse called it an outrage.

Burge is set to report to prison March 16.