By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former
Delray Beach Police Officer Dave Chin is now a convicted felon because of his
lies and misdeeds concerning a romantic interest in a woman he arrested in
2011.
Chin, 37, pleaded guilty Monday
to five felony charges: three counts of official misconduct and two counts of
perjury in an official proceeding.
While those counts altogether
carry maximum of 25 years in state prison, Chin was sentenced to six months in
Palm Beach County Jail under a plea deal with the State Attorney's Office.
He'll serve the punishment on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.
Chin, represented by defense
attorneys Flynn Bertisch and Michael Salnick, appeared before Circuit Judge
Robin Rosenberg and acknowledged his crimes rather than proceed to a trial and
leave his fate up to a jury.
Prosecutor Marci Rex called the
plea agreement "an appropriate resolution to this case."
Salnick agreed.
"Considering the fact that
he is not going to jail, I believe it was a fair resolution," he told the
Sun Sentinel.
According to a report filed for
Chin's August 2012 arrest, the married officer had sent text messages to
Natalie Jerue, a friend of a confidential informant, telling her she was pretty
and asking her out on movie and dinner dates.
While he was a member of the
department's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit, Chin in June 2011 charged Jerue
with trafficking Oxycodone, a painkiller. But investigators accused Chin of
falsifying some of the facts in Jerue's arrest report.
Later, in an effort to help
Jerue's case, Chin sent a memo to the State Attorney's Office, which he
attributed to his supervisor, saying that on the day of her arrest Jerue
started providing information to police that led to several narcotics arrests,
the seizure of approximately 200 Oxycodone pills, several handguns, a rifle and
$3,800 in cash.
But it was all lies,
authorities said.
The trafficking case against
Jerue was later dropped, according to court records.
At the time of Chin's arrest
and subsequent suspension, the police chief said the officer's actions were
"not a direct reflection of the dedication and hard work done daily by the
men and women of the Delray Beach Police Department."
But Chin's misconduct turned
out to be quite costly for the agency, because in September 2012 the State
Attorney's Office dropped at least 20 cases that involved Chin's work as a
police officer.
Narcotics charges resulting
from arrests of suspects from 2010 to 2012 were tossed because of the tainted
connection with Chin.
Chin's felony convictions mean
the disgraced cop won't be able to wear a badge ever again, prosecutor Rex said
after Monday's court hearing.
"He will lose his right to
vote, own firearms, and be a law enforcement officer," she said.
But Chin's already pursuing new
career opportunities, anyway.
"He's turning the page and
moving forward," Salnick said.
