Disgraced
ex-cop sentenced to house arrest for extortion scheme
BY MENSAH M. DEAN
"AN HONEST mistake"
is how disgraced ex-cop Jonathan Lazarde yesterday described the extortion
scheme he undertook last year that ended his career and resulted in his
pleading guilty in January.
"It was the worst decision
I ever made," Lazarde, 28, added during his sentencing hearing in Common
Pleas Court.
"I'm still stuck on 'an
honest mis-take,' " Judge Robert P. Coleman said after Lazarde spoke.
The judge told Lazarde
misconduct like his leads to distrust of police and makes it harder for
prosecutors to win convictions.
"Don't hold it against the
defendant for a choice of words that are inarticulate," said defense
attorney Jack McMahon, who argued Lazarde took responsibility for his actions
by pleading guilty.
Assistant District Attorney
Frank Fina said Lazarde deserved jail time, but that he would not oppose
McMahon's request for a house-arrest sentence.
Coleman, appearing reluctant,
went along with the lawyers and sentenced Lazarde to three months of house
arrest, six years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
"Sir, you have been given
a gift. Had this gone to trial, you would have been looking at decades in
prison," Coleman told Lazarde.
The judge also wondered aloud
why the District Attorney's Office dropped extortion and bribery charges, allowing
Lazarde to plead guilty to a lone charge of criminal use of a communication
facility - a third-degree felony.
Fina told the Daily News after
the hearing that he did not seek jail time due to concerns for Lazarde's
safety.
"We had safety concerns
because he was a prior police officer," Fina said. "I don't know if
it was preferential [treatment], but there were concerns that he would be at
risk in prison."
Lazarde could have received up
to nine months in jail, said Fina, the former chief deputy in the state
Attorney General's Office. Fina now works in the Philadelphia District
Attorney's Office anti-corruption unit.
Lazarde was a five-year police
veteran assigned to Olney's 35th District last year when he arrested a man on a
gun charge and then offered not to attend court proceedings to ensure an
acquittal if the suspect paid him $5,000.
The suspect instead reported
the extortion plot to Internal Affairs investigators, who set up a sting
operation in April in which they caught Lazarde allegedly pocketing $5,000 in
marked bills. He resigned from the force April 21 and was arrested May 30.
Ex-South
Miami cop named in Sweetwater case
BY BRENDA MEDINA
Authorities arrested a former
South Miami detective on extortion and fraud charges in a case that reaches
into Sweetwater.
Richard Muñoz, a 15-year South
Miami veteran until his retirement last year, pleaded guilty March 14 on
charges of taking advantage of his position and using false information with
intent to commit fraud.
Muñoz’s crimes may be linked to
charges against Sweetwater officer William García, arrested in August on
charges of identity theft and credit card fraud, but public documents in the
federal case did not provide details. However, sources familiar to the case
said Muñoz, 45, will be an important witness against García.
Muñoz, who was arrested on
March 10, reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors last week after he
agreed to be on a list of more than 50 potential witnesses against García when
his trial begins in April.
Muñoz had pleaded not guilty
when he was first arrested. He is now free on bail and his sentencing has been
scheduled for May 9, at which time he could face up to five years in prison.
Muñoz’s lawyer, Gustavo Lage,
could not be reached for comment.
South Miami Police Chief Rene
Landa said on Wednesday that the crimes committed by Muñoz do not reflect the
culture of his department.
“We were not aware of these
activities until now, when they were made public,” Landa said. Muñoz was
detached to the Drug Enforcement Administration on a task force for more than a
year, Landa said.
According to the agreement with
federal prosecutors, Muñoz was not charged with giving false information in an
official DEA statement.
Sweetwater suspended García
after his August arrest. He has maintained his innocence. His defense attorneys
say their client acted within his authority as an officer and, in several
cases, under orders from his supervisors.
In early March, García asked
the city to pay his legal fees. Sweetwater commissioners denied the request.
FBI agents arrested García in
August, accusing him of using counterfeit credit cards and stealing credit card
numbers, including the card of a suspect he had arrested. García worked with an
informant, who later agreed to cooperate with the FBI.
García’s arrest was another
scandal that shook Sweetwater in 2013. The FBI also arrested then-Mayor Manuel
“Manny” Maroño on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for official favors
using his position as an elected official. Maroño plead guilty and is now in
federal prison, serving a 40-month sentence.
The scandal also affected other
officers. Octavio Oliu and Reny García have been suspended with pay since
September, while federal and county authorities conduct an investigation of the
Sweetwater force. Auxiliary police officer Richard Brenner also was suspended,
but was reinstated, then fired late last year.
Also, as part of the
investigation, authorities are reviewing the activities of a towing company
linked to Maroño in connection with the police department.
Ex-East
Haven cop Michael D’Amato gets 18 months in evidence theft case
By Evan Lips
NEW HAVEN >> Michael
D’Amato, the former East Haven detective convicted in February of stealing
money from the department’s evidence locker, was sentenced Friday to serve five
years in prison, suspended after 18 months.
D’Amato’s sentencing came after
his attorney, Tara Knight, argued for a new trial, alleging that one of the
jurors may have made biased comments on a Register story detailing the
conviction.
Superior Court Judge Brian T.
Fischer, however, denied Knight’s request.
D’Amato is appealing his
conviction and is free on $100,000 bail.
After Fischer denied Knight’s
request for a new trial, she argued against giving D’Amato any jail time,
noting that her client is not a threat to commit a similar crime again.
“He has a felony on his record,
he has been called a Judas, and his family is in financial ruin,” Knight said.
“And I also ask the court not to treat him any differently because he is a
police officer.”
D’Amato is the fourth officer
from the East Haven Police Department to be sentenced to prison this year.
D’Amato was convicted on Feb. 3
of pilfering approximately $1,328 out of a department evidence locker. He was a
youth detective at the time of his December 2011 retirement. The theft occurred
in March of that year, but D’Amato was not formally charged until May 2012.
The investigation focused on a
five-day time frame beginning the night of March 12, 2011, and ending on March
16.
The evidence was obtained
during a March 12, 2011, arrest conducted by former Officer Dennis Spaulding
during a traffic stop. Spaulding discovered marijuana in addition to cash
during the stop. Spaulding arrested three men and during D’Amato’s trial,
another officer, former Sgt. Gary DePalma, testified that Spaulding dutifully
followed the procedure for evidence submission.
Records show Spaulding entered
seven evidence bags into the logbook as he was processing the March 12 arrest.
D’Amato was not working on March 12, a Saturday. He returned to work on March
14, but the evidence was not reported missing until March 17, since the officer
in charge of managing the evidence room was out sick for two days prior.
Surveillance video shown to
jurors depicts D’Amato on March 14 leaving the evidence room holding what
prosecutors argued was an evidence bag. Jurors also heard a recording of a
20-minute interview state police Detective Sgt. William Bundy conducted in July
2011.
The interview features D’Amato
acknowledging he is the man depicted in the video.
Knight attempted to poke holes
in DePalma’s testimony, pointing out to jurors that Spaulding’s former
supervisor testified he never saw the money being physically entered into the
evidence lockbox but heard the door close.
Had he admitted to the crime,
D’Amato would have received only a misdemeanor conviction carrying no jail
time. Instead, he was convicted on two felonies consisting of second-degree
larceny and tampering with evidence.
During Friday’s sentencing,
Assistant State’s Attorny Kevin Shay stressed to Fischer the fact D’Amato
committed a “breach of trust.”
“The last thing in the world I
want is for other officers to think they can go and steal evidence and avoid
incarceration,” Shay said.
Knight countered that Fischer
should consider the degree of “abuse and ridicule from other inmates” when an
inmate happens to be a former police officer. She added that D’Amato’s
background is “spotless,” as he is a dedicated family man with no prior history
of offenses.
“People do make deposits into
the bank of life,” Knight said.
Fischer said there is “no doubt
in this court’s mind he is a very good husband and father” and added he “will
not punish him based on his execution of a right to trial.”
“But for whatever reason, you
decided to steal more than $1,300,” Fischer said. “You not only stained the
East Haven Police Department but also other officers in the region who work
honestly.”
Knight said the bulk of
D’Amato’s conviction appeal will center around the possibility a juror posted
opinions on the Register website. The poster in question, who goes by the
handle “BenThere,” wrote claims such as “if you were in the court room the
entire time and saw all the evidence I did, by law you would have to render a
guilty verdict.”
Knight also pointed out that
“BenThere” faulted D’Amato for never testifying in his defense. Another comment
she highlighted referred to the fact “BenThere” knew the occupations of the
other jurors.
“This was a jury of his peers,
made up of an engineer, truck mechanic, crane operator, line worker, medical
personnel, retiree and salesman,” the poster wrote.
At one point, the poster calls
out former Officer George Kammerer, the evidence room manager who testified.
Kammerer, who commented under his real name, responded by saying, “you must be
the crackhead-looking juror.”
In denying Knight’s motion for
a new trial, Fischer said the state “has a strong interest in the finality of
judgment.”
Police Lieutenant and
Officer Indicted on Federal Drug Charges
St.
Louis, Missouri - Lieutenant Parrish Swanson and Officer Raymond Stephens are
charged with conspiracy to distribute and attempted distribution of heroin.
According
to the indictment, during March 2014, Swanson and Stephens agreed to assist an
associate, a suspected drug dealer, rob—or what is more commonly referred to as
rip off—a drug courier of an amount of heroin within the city of Hillsdale. The
associate agreed to pay Swanson and Stephens cash for their assistance in this
rip off. On March 20, 2014, Stephens, while on duty as a Hillsdale Police
officer, approached the drug courier and robbed him of approximately four
ounces of suspected heroin. He later met with the associate and gave him the
heroin in exchange for $900 cash. Stephens then gave Swanson $200 of the $900
per their previous agreement.
Swanson,
40, St. Louis, and Stevens, 28, St. Charles, were each indicted by a federal
grand jury Thursday on one felony count each of conspiracy to distribute heroin
and attempt to distribute heroin. They were arrested by FBI agents this
morning.
If
convicted, each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 20 years
in prison and/or fines up to $1 million. In determining the actual sentences, a
judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide
recommended sentencing ranges.
This case
was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis
County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Hal Goldsmith and
John Bodenhausen are handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As is
always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and
do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
Ex-Hall
deputy charged with stealing county property
By Jeff Gill
A former Hall County Sheriff’s
Office deputy has been charged with stealing county property and violating his
oath as an officer.
Joel Clifton Ayers, 35, who
served in the jail division, was fired Thursday after authorities learned he
had stolen a residential metal air handler, which is part of a heating,
ventilating and air-conditioning system, according to the sheriff’s office.
The part was valued at less
than $1,500, spokeswoman Deputy Nicole Bailes said.
After discovering the theft,
the sheriff’s office requested that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
investigate the matter.
“As a result of that
investigation, it was determined that his actions rose to a criminal level,” a
sheriff’s office press release stated.
GBI Agents obtained arrest
warrants for Ayers on Thursday, and Ayers surrendered Friday at the Hall County
Jail. He was booked on one count each of misdemeanor theft by taking and
violation of oath of office, a felony.
“Law enforcement officers, like
any other citizen, are bound by the laws of our society,” Sheriff Gerald Couch
said in the press release. “These types of incidents are the exception among a
department of excellent officers and criminal misconduct, by anyone, will not
be overlooked or downplayed.”
Ayers, who is free on $4,000
bail, had worked for the sheriff’s office between January 2005 and September
2011. He was rehired on April 30, 2012, when he accepted a position overseeing
inmates assigned to work details, the press release states.
Ayers, who lives in Lavonia,
couldn’t be reached for comment.
This case remains under
investigation by the GBI.
