<P> Operation Greylord was an investigation conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Chicago Police Department Internal Affairs Division and the Illinois State Police into corruption in the judiciary of Cook County, Illinois (the Chicago jurisdiction). The FBI named the investigation "Operation Greylord" after a local racehorse . </P> <P> The 3 1 / 2 - year undercover operation took place in the 1980s, with the cooperation of some state and local law enforcement and judicial officials . Eventually, with trials extending ten years after the end of the undercover phase, as discussed below, over 92 public officials were indicted (almost all in federal court), and most eventually were convicted, either by guilty pleas or trials . </P>

Operation greylord took place in the 1980s and targeted