HARTFORD, Connecticut — A former East Haven police officer charged
in an investigation of mistreatment of Latinos and others become the last of
four officers sentenced in the case Wednesday, getting four months in prison
for using unreasonable force during an arrest.
John Miller, a sergeant and former president of the police union,
received a lighter sentence after the federal judge overseeing his case cited
his cooperation in the investigation that also landed three other officers
behind bars.
Miller, 44, pleaded guilty in 2012 to violating a person's civil
rights. Authorities say he admitted that in 2010 he struck a handcuffed
individual while the victim was in the secure custody of two other police
officers.
Miller's lawyer, Donald Cretella, has said the allegation against
Miller did not involve mistreating any minorities. Miller, who retired from the
police department, was ordered to report to prison on March 13.
Cretella had sought probation for Miller, citing his awards,
cooperation in the investigation and the effects of having to shoot someone.
"I'm very disappointed," Cretella wrote in an email.
"I thought that with Mr. Miller's background cooperation he earned the
benefit of probation. I don't think a jail sentence was necessary. Mr. Miller
is a good family man and was a good cop. A hero, in fact."
Judge Alvin W. Thompson did credit Miller for his cooperation in
the investigation in sentencing him below guidelines that called for 12 to 18
months. Miller also received a $3,000 fine at his sentencing in federal court
in Hartford.
Police treatment of Latinos in East Haven has been under federal
scrutiny since 2009, when the Department of Justice launched a civil rights
probe that found a pattern of discrimination and biased policing in the town,
which is more than 88 percent white, according to the Census.
The officers falsified arrest reports, unlawfully searched Latino
businesses and harassed and intimidated those who tried to investigate or
report their misconduct or abuse, prosecutors said.
Last month, Dennis Spaulding received a five-year prison sentence
for conspiring to violate the constitutional rights of Hispanics, making false
arrests and using unreasonable force.
Spaulding defended his actions as the colorblind enforcement of
motor vehicle laws during an investigation of massive license plate fraud. He
said those involved in the fraud just happened to be those who lived in the
U.S. illegally, who would pay up to $1,500 for phony vehicle registrations and
insurance cards.
"I am not a racist, nor do I use racist language," he
said.
But Thompson said Spaulding could not explain away the abuse of
Latinos, including the false arrest and beating of a restaurant owner who was
taking pictures to document the police surveillance of his business.
David Cari, another officer convicted of civil rights charges
during that trial, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Officer
Jason Zullo received a two-year sentence in December after pleading guilty to
obstruction of justice.
