Atlantic
City police officer calls misconduct charge retaliation
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ATLANTIC
CITY — A veteran police officer says he was charged criminally because he would
not help set up a case against several prominent officials, including the mayor
and police chief.
Officer
Michael Jones, who has worked for the Atlantic City Police Department since
2001, is charged with official misconduct and theft for allegedly violating the
rules of the Live-In Police Officers Program by taking a more than 80 percent
discount on rent for an apartment in Stanley Holmes Village and then subletting
it for a profit.
But
Jones, 39, insisted Wednesday that he did live in the apartment on Caspian Place
from April 2005 until he was asked to leave last May.
Instead,
he claims that Detective Jason Kangas, of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s
Official Corruption Unit, told him “that if I cooperated with him and helped
him build cases against several individuals ... he would make the charges
against me go away.”
Mayor
Lorenzo Langford, police Chief Ernest Jubilee, Atlantic City Council President
William “Speedy” Marsh and Councilman Marty Small were named, he said. All four
men and Jones are black.
“I
think there are racial overtones in those allegations,” defense attorney James
Leonard Jr. said, calling it a “racially motivated witch hunt.”
“That’s
so untrue,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said of the race claim. “That
is ... I need to find the word ... reprehensible on his part.”
Leonard
earlier used the same word to describe the investigation’s alleged tactics in
going after his client.
“The
way that (Jones) was treated at his home, I find to be reprehensible,” he said.
Housel
said he could not, under the law, comment on whether anyone from his office
spoke with Jones, but stressed that the investigation was a joint one with the
FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force. His office also never comments on whether
an investigation exists, so could not comment further on whether the four men
named are the targets of an investigation. Jones said Kangas’ questions did not
lead him to believe there was any current investigation on the four he named.
Housel
said the allegations against Jones are not about black and white, but green.
“This
fellow, for years, received thousands of dollars from people to whom he sublet
an apartment he agreed to actually live in and did not,” Housel said.
The
Live-In Police Officers Program allows officers to lease public housing at a
significantly discounted rate in exchange for active community policing.
According
to the charges, Jones rented the $1,035-per-month apartment for $202, then
collected between $39,200 and $51,000 in rent money.
“There
is absolutely nothing to the allegations,” Leonard said. “Officer Jones never
earned $1 from any illicit activity. He never charged anyone rent at 1522
Caspian Place.”
Jones
said he was asked to leave the program in May 2011. That was, according to the
charges, because Jones was violating his agreement.
“The
Housing Authority provides housing for many, many minorities, and we are acting
after being informed by them about an offense about which they are the victim,”
Housel said. “Shame on (Leonard) for bringing race into what is simply alleged
official misconduct. That’s just offensive to me.”
The
authority and taxpayers lost $61,642 in potential rent during the time Jones
was in the program, the charges claim.
Local
PBA President Dave Davidson said Jones is in good standing with the union and
that they will stand by him throughout the process.
“We
are all protected by the same Constitution, where a person is presumed
innocent,” Davidson said. “We are going to make sure he’s given his rights, and
that his rights are protected.”
Housel
took issue with previous statements Leonard made that were published in The
Press of Atlantic City, saying the allegations were disheartening not only to
Jones but to all the officers of the department.
“He
is using this to try to put a wedge between my office and the hardworking and
honest officers of the Atlantic City Police Department,” he said. “They do put
their lives on the line every day. However, we do not allege that they steal
thousands of dollars by taking advantage of a program for police officers to live
in Housing Authority apartments.”
Leonard
and Jones insist this officer hasn’t either.
“I
am 100 percent innocent of these charges and the allegations against me are
completely false,” Jones said.
Leonard
said there will be no plea deal in the case, and is adamant that it will be
taken to trial.
“We
will establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he lived in that apartment the
entire time he was involved in the program,” Leonard said.
