Ex-Windermere police chief gets 8 years in prison after guilty verdict in perjury trial

ORLANDO, Fla. —

A jury delivered a guilty verdict in the perjury trial of former Windermere police Chief Daniel Saylor Wednesday. Immediately following the verdict, the judge gave Saylor an 8-year prison sentence.

Saylor was charged with perjury for allegedly giving false testimony last year before his friend, Scott Bush, was convicted for child rape.

Saylor begged Circuit Judge Jenifer Davis for mercy before he was led away, according to Channel 9's Kathi Belich.

"Your honor, don't know what to really say to you. I still believe what I said was the truth," said Saylor. "I'm a single father with a daughter. I served my country and the state of Florida for many years and I find myself in this position now. I don't know what to say, your honor. Please have mercy on me."

Last week, Saylor turned down a plea offer from the state which included a five-year prison sentence.

"Sentence you to eight years, Department of Corrections," said Davis. "Credit for 13 days that you have served."

 The jury deliberated for just over an hour before announcing they had reached a verdict.

Saylor dropped his head as the verdict was read.

Saylor testified on Wednesday and told the jury he was going through a lot of stress over the case.

Saylor wiped his eyes as he tried to convince the jury that he did not lie during Bush's trial last year. He claimed he was just offering his opinion based on what he was told by his subordinate officers.

Saylor said he was told that the Orange County Sheriff's Office had thoroughly investigated child rape accusations against Bush, and that the State Attorney's Office had decided not to prosecute Bush.

Saylor referred to a document stating that what the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said was unsigned, undated and was never seen by the Sheriff's Office, the State Attorney's Office or the Windermere police officer, whose name was on the document.

Prosecutor: "And you were never confused by the questions that he asked you, Mr. Bush's counsel?"

Saylor: "No, sir. He told me to tell the truth and I did."

Prosecutor: "And you never asked for clarification, right?"

Saylor: "No, sir. Why would I? I believed it was the truth, that's what I was told. I wouldn't jeopardize myself like that."

But Saylor had been told otherwise months earlier, when FDLE told him those agencies had no knowledge of the child rape accusations against Bush.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer believes Saylor did not do himself any favor by testifying, especially because he had to admit to the jury that he had been convicted four times for crimes of dishonesty.

Freemason officer charged with embezzling $50K

By Lissa Harris

A 44-year-old Pennsylvania man has been charged with embezzling over $50,000 from Masonic lodges in Sullivan County, where he was an officer for the fraternal organization. Milford resident John Wells was arrested by Liberty state troopers on Tuesday, Jan. 21 and charged with second-degree grand larceny, according to a news release from New York State Police. The arrest was made after an investigation by state police and the Sullivan County District Attorney's office. Wells was arraigned in Liberty village court and released after posting $15,000 bond. 

Salem Cop Fired After Allegedly Beating Handcuffed Man

Posted by Kyle Stucker

The town of Salem terminated Officer Joseph Freda's employment Tuesday less than a week after he was arrested for allegedly using excessive force against a suspect he had in custody.

Freda, 33, of Salem, was scheduled Tuesday for nonpublic administrative hearings before the Salem Police Department and Salem Town Manager Keith Hickey, although Hickey said Freda waived those hearings.

Hickey said Freda was fired Tuesday following a recommendation from Police Chief Paul Donovan, and Hickey cited Salem's "no tolerance policy with respect to excessive use of force" while explaining the rationale behind the termination.

The town and police department declined additional comment Tuesday.

Freda is being investigated by the New Hampshire Attorney General's office for alleged unlawful actions while arresting Thomas Templeton, 39, of York, Maine, on Oct. 6.

The former officer could face up to five years in prison for allegedly using a flashlight to beat and draw blood from a handcuffed Templeton, a high-speed chase suspect, before intentionally stepping on one of the man's cuffed hands.

Freda was originally placed on paid administrative leave on Oct. 23 when the AG's office began its investigation, but last week was placed on unpaid leave and arrested on two counts of misdemeanor simple assault as a result on the AG's investigation, which is ongoing.

Senior Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Jane Young couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

Several police reports pertaining to Templeton's arrest were released last week. The reports, according to the Eagle-Tribune, describe a series of injuries to Templeton, as well as an exchange that featured Freda swearing at Templeton after Templeton accused Freda of hitting him.

"Yeah, I [expletive] hit you," reads the report filed by Salem Officer Robert Kirley.

The Nashua Telegraph has also reported that Freda has been accused of excessive force before. In 2009, a Brookline resident claimed Freda, then a Brookline officer, used excessive force and charged her with a crime without cause following a traffic stop

Miami-Dade cop, husband arrested for allegedly stealing county gas

 BY DAVID OVALLE

A Miami-Dade police officer and her boyfriend were arrested Tuesday afternoon after investigators say they filled their personal cars with gas from a county fueling facility.

Rose Stabio, 41, a Kendall district patrol officer, was charged with organized scheme to defraud and third-degree grand theft. Husband Giomar Picon, 31, a security guard and former Sweetwater police officer, was also charged.

Authorities say Stabio and Picon used a county gas card meant to fill up her police patrol car at a South Miami-Dade county fuel facility. The theft, prosecutors say, took place over several months, amounted to hundreds of dollars and was captured on hidden surveillance video.

The investigation was done by Miami-Dade’s Professional Compliance Bureau.

The couple had been fueling up their personal cars at the county fuel facility at Thompson Memorial Park, 12451 SW 184th St., according to prosecutors.

According to an arrest warrant, the pair was caught when a former neighbor, a county parks supervisor, ran into Stabio and Picon fueling their personal cars on separate occasions.

Investigators learned that in early December, Stabio’s 2002 police patrol car was taken to a county mechanic shop for repairs. She was given a newer, temporary police car that did not require a fuel card at the pumping station because it was equipped with a special electronic sensor that tracked the gas put into the vehicle.

But nevertheless, Stabio and her boyfriend – who is not a county employee – were captured on hidden video contuning to use the fuel card, but to fill their personal cars. In all, police said, the pair stole at $338.30 from the county.

'He looks either drunk, high or something,' 911 caller says about OPD officer

By Tiffany Walden, Orlando Sentinel

6:41 p.m. EST, January 22, 2014

An intoxicated off-duty Orlando Police officer went on a rant Sunday when Oviedo authorities arrested him for DUI after they found an open bottle of peach vodka in the passenger seat of his SUV, a report today shows.

A 911 caller told authorities Sean Matthew Gilhuly appeared "inebriated" as he sat through two green lights on W. Mitchell Hammock Road and State Road 434.

"He's not passed out, but he does not look fit to drive," a passerby told dispatchers in the 911 call. "He looks either drunk, high or something. I have no idea."

Police say Gilhuly, 30, repeatedly yelled, "Don't (expletive) me over bro," as they tried to transport him to the Seminole County jail for a blood-alcohol breath test, which he later refused to take, an arrest report stated.

He then had to be restrained in a special suit after he kicked out the back passenger window of the officer's patrol car in a combative rage against the arrest, the report said.

His Orlando Police supervisor told officers that Gilhuly had been undergoing personal issues lately, according to the report.

Gilhuly, a patrol officer, is on paid leave pending the results of an internal investigation, Orlando Police Sgt. Jim Young said.

He faces charges of driving under the influence and criminal mischief. He also received two traffic citations, Young said.

Oviedo Police said a passerby called them around 5 p.m. Sunday to report a man who had sat through two green traffic lights on eastbound W. Mitchell Hammock Road at State Road 434.

Police arrived, and found Gilhuly inside a white Ford Explorer in the left, eastbound lane. In the police report, officers stated that Gilhuly was creating a safety hazard amid a busy traffic intersection.

Officers then took a look inside Gilhuly's car and saw an open bottle of Peach Ciroc liquor in his passenger seat, according to the report.

They also found a Florida concealed-weapon permit and a handgun inside the SUV.

"(Gilhuly) told me he was a police officer with Orlando Police Department," the Oviedo officer said in the report. "I asked him where his credentials were. He was unable to answer my question."

The officers then moved Gilhuly and his car out of the busy intersection to the Jim's World of Wheels parking lot on S. Central Avenue, where they continued their DUI investigation.

Gilhuly told officers he had not been drinking and refused to perform a field-sobriety test, the report said.

He was arrested and officers called his Orlando Police supervisor to the scene. Gilhuly requested that officers hand over his SUV to the supervisor.

"Prior to my leaving, his supervisor spoke with me, and informed me (Gilhuly) was currently undergoing personal issues," the officer said in the report.

Gilhuly began yelling expletives and grew increasingly angry while he was being taken to the jail, officers said.

Because of Gilhuly's "apparent extreme intoxication and his extremely elevated vital signs," officers had to take him to a hospital to be "medically cleared" before being booked into jail, a report said.

That's when Gilhuly kicked out the patrol car's passenger-side window, forcing officers to place him in a "total limb restraint," the report stated.

At the hospital, nurses had to give Gilhuly medication to calm him down in order to treat him, according to the report.

He eventually was medically cleared and taken back to Seminole County Jail, where he refused to take a breath test.

He was booked into the jail, but has since bonded out.

Fairfield officer in fatal shooting had troubles

Written by Sheila McLaughlin

The officer who shot and killed Caleb Surface received a scathing performance review and was suspended for job problems only a month before the fatal shots were fired Saturday, personnel files show.

Those were some of the details that emerged Tuesday as The Enquirer obtained several public records for officer Scott Conklin from Fairfield police.

Those records – including 911 calls and police radio transmissions – provide a more detailed picture of the man who was shot, the officer who killed him and what happened that night.

A recording of police radio traffic indicates that Surface told Conklin that he had a gun before the officer fired.

Seven minutes earlier, an officer radioed that Surface was potentially suicidal.

“He was asking to be shot and then he began to try to cut his wrists,” the unidentified officer said on an areawide channel that could be heard by officers on the call. At least five officers responded to look for Surface after the 8 p.m. altercation between him and his father on Spyglass Hill Court.

The shooting of Surface remains under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Investigation. The agency will turn a report over to the Butler County prosecutor who will present it to as grand jury to see if charges against Conklin are warranted.

According to Conklin’s personnel file, he appeared to be a seasoned officer who called in sick a lot, showed up late for work and court, failed to follow up on investigations and didn’t write the amount of tickets that were expected. He went home on duty and spent too much time on personal cell phone calls, his personnel file indicates.

When Conklin failed to pay back another officer the $500 he borrowed, records say the officer had to sue Conklin in small claims court.

Those problems put him on quarterly performance reviews and were punished with a one-day suspension in December.

Fairfield police said they aren’t commenting on anything surrounding the case while it’s under investigation.

Surface, 23, was shot at least once and died on St. Andrews Court Saturday night after he fled his father’s home when police arrived on the domestic violence call.

Jeff Surface, the father, had confronted his son with a gun when he thought someone was breaking into his home on Spyglass Hill Court. The two men struggled.

“He’s out of control. He’s nuts,” Jeff Surface told a dispatcher.

Jeff Surface left the phone and came back to tell the dispatcher that his son had gone into a bedroom room and tried to “grab a knife or something.” Jeff Surface could be heard telling his son to get out of his house and Surface telling his father that he had no where to go.

“I almost had to shoot him,” Jeff Surface told the dispatcher

He said his son was under the influence of drug or alcohol.

In a separate 911 call, Jeff Surface’s girlfriend, Donna Riley, told a dispatcher that Surface was “going berserk” on his father. She said a similar incident had occurred the night before and Jeff Surface threw his son out of the house.

After Surface left his father’s house Saturday, other 911 calls indicate Surface was knocking on doors on a nearby street asking to use the phone.

A woman on Polo Woods Court called 911 to report that a young man in a leather jacket came to her door.

“He looked like he had been crying and he was homeless,” the woman said.

She turned the man away and he went to a neighbor’s house. Another man told police that the man was in his back yard.

Conklin then spied Surface going through the back yards and followed him to St. Andrews Court, where the shooting occurred. Surface died about 25 minutes from the time his father had called 911.

Surface had a string of drug charges in Fairfield, and a judge had ordered him to stay away from his father’s home in September, court records show.

In a statement on Monday, the Surface family described Caleb Surface as a kind-hearted young man who struggled with chemical dependency.

Marion policeman took money and drugs from dead person, SLED says

MARION, SC -

UPDATE: In a statement released by the City of Marion Tuesday morning, the Marion Police Department confirmed that PFC Andrew J. Ellis is no longer employed with the City of Marion Police Department. In the release, it was stated that Ellis' termination occurred on January 16, and that all  questions about the case should be referred to SLED.

###

A Marion Police officer was charged last week with misconduct in office, SLED officials told WBTW.

Andrew Ellis, age 33, was arrested on Thursday and has since bonded out of jail, officials said.  SLED warrants accuse him of stealing from a dead person's house. The warrant states he took $100 from her purse as well as prescription drugs including Oxycodone and other substances.

It also states he used bolt cutters to steal from lockers with the Marion Police department.

Ellis is a 1998 graduate of West Columbus High School and is originally from Fair Bluff, NC, according to his Facebook page.

He was arrested in Horry County and placed in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Thursday, but was later transferred to Marion County, officials said.

Jaywalking York Leads To Brutal Arrest Of 84-Year-Old Man

The NYPD is under fire after an 84-year-old man was injured while being arrested by officers after being stopped for jaywalking.

Kang Wong, a Chinese immigrant who speaks little English, was walking in the Upper West Side Sunday when he was approached by a cop attempting to write him a ticket for a jaywalking citation.

“[The officer] stood him up against the wall and was trying to write him a ticket," witness Ian King told The New York Post. "The man didn’t seem to understand, and he started walking away. The cop tried to pull him back, and that’s when he began to struggle with the cop. As soon as he pushed the cop, it was like cops started running in from everywhere.”

After the altercation, Wong was taken to St. Luke's Hospital where he received four staples in the head. He has reportedly been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Mayor Bill de Blasio declined to comment specifically on the incident, but he defended the NYPD's focus on jaywalking as a part of a larger initiative to reduce traffic fatalities and promote pedestrian safety in New York City.

“There is no larger policy in terms of jaywalking and ticketing and jaywalking," de Blasio said Monday. "That’s not part of our plan. But it is something a local precinct commander can act on, if they perceive there to be a real danger."

Last week, de Blasio announced a plan with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to reduce traffic deaths to "literally" zero through increased pedestrian education and reducing speed limits.

Within two days of his announcement, four people were killed in traffic throughout the city.

As Gothamist noted today, while further education on pedestrian safety can help reduce fatalities, it's hard to see how aggressive ticketing for those caught jaywalking can be effective.

Speeding is the most common cause of fatal crashes. Drivers failing to yield is a top reason why pedestrians are injured. In most cases, the operators of the high-velocity heavy machinery are responsible for the disorder. Pedestrians are more often hit with the light on their side than without. Ticketing pedestrians for jaywalking will not deter the operators of heavy machinery from behaving dangerously.

Following Wong's hospitalization, Bratton said the brutal arrest was due to "an unfortunate circumstance" and insisted no excessive force was exercised by officers.

Wong's son is said to be looking into legal action.

Cop arrested for having sex with teen

PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix police officer is suspected of having sex with a girl who wanted to get pregnant. Scottsdale police arrested 32-year-old Justin LaClere at his Gilbert home on Friday. He faces one count of luring a minor for sexual exploitation and one count of sexual conduct with a minor. LaClere is accused of having sex with the 17-year-old girl at her family’s home.

Officers, investigators suspended for alleged involvement in Spicuzzo case 1 Points Mentioned

Several investigators and officers from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office have been suspended without pay, pending termination.

The charges stemmed from an internal affairs investigation related to the New Jersey Attorney General’s investigation of former Middlesex County Sheriff Joe Spicuzzo, according to the current sheriff, Mildred S. Scott.

Spicuzzo was sentenced in September to nine years in prison for running a jobs-forcash scheme at the sheriff’s office. The 68- year-old Helmetta resident pleaded guilty over the summer to a charge of accepting $25,000 in exchange for a job in his office.

On Jan. 17, Investigator Richard Mucia was charged with bribery, and Officer Bruce Kentos was charged with conduct unbecoming of a public employee. Investigator Christopher Jarema was charged with bribery; Investigator Thomas Varga was charged with bribery; and Investigator Giancarlo Russo was charged with bribery and conduct unbecoming of a public employee on Jan. 3.

Investigators Daniel Link and Eric Strachan were suspended without pay on June 27 on charges of conduct unbecoming of a public employee.

According to Scott, the investigation involved a review of investigation materials provided by the Attorney General’s Office on Oct. 11.

The investigation will continue until a thorough review of all materials has been completed, and all officers and investigators involved in any inappropriate action have been identified and disciplined, she said.

Officer Arrested for DWI

Sweetwater police officer Matthew Todd Jones was arrested Tuesday night for drinking and driving.  Sweetwater police officer Matthew Todd Jones, 37, was arrested and charged with drinking and driving Monday night. A DPS trooper pulled Jones over on I-20 in Taylor County and arrested him.SPD Chief Jim Kelley tells KTAB News he is aware of the arrest but no action has been taken as of yet.

BART POLICE OFFICER SHOT AND KILLED BY FELLOW BART POLICE OFFICER IN EMPTY APARTMENT

5:56 PM: A BART police officer was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer while conducting a probation search in Dublin this afternoon, an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman said.

The shooting occurred just before 2 p.m. at the Park Sierra Apartments at 6450 Dougherty Road, Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.

Nelson said several officers went there to search an apartment belonging to a suspect in a series of recent robberies on BART.

The two officers entered the apparently empty apartment and one officer accidentally fired a shot that wounded the other officer, Nelson said.

The wounded officer was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he succumbed to his injuries, Nelson said.

Nelson said he assumes that the officers had their guns drawn as they entered the apartment but that the details of how or why the officer’s gun went off remain unclear.

The suspect was not at home at the time of the shooting.

Dublin police are investigating the shooting. The city of Dublin contracts with the sheriff’s office for police services.

BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey and General Manager Grace Crunican said in a statement, “The entire BART organization is deeply saddened by this tragic event and we ask the public to keep the officer’s family in its thoughts and prayers.”

Rainey said that he and Crunican visited with the officer’s family after the shooting to offer condolences and support. The officer’s name has not been released.

The shooting marks the first death of a BART police officer in the agency’s history.

Jeff Shuttleworth/Sasha Lekach, Bay City News

4:41 PM: A BART police officer was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer while conducting a probation search in Dublin this afternoon, an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman said.

The shooting occurred at 1:03 p.m. at the Park Sierra Apartments at 6450 Dougherty Road.

Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson told reporters at the scene this afternoon that the officers were searching the apartment of a suspect who had committed various crimes, including robberies.

During the search, one of the BART officers was shot, and it appears he was shot accidentally by another BART officer at the scene, Nelson said.

The wounded officer was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he succumbed to his injuries, Nelson said.

Nelson said there are no suspects at large, and Dublin police are investigating the shooting. The city of Dublin contracts with the sheriff’s office for police services.

BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey and General Manager Grace Crunican said in a statement, “The entire BART organization is deeply saddened by this tragic event and we ask the public to keep the officer’s family in its thoughts and prayers.”

Sasha Lekach, Bay City News

4:11 PM: A BART police officer who was shot while doing a probation search in Dublin this afternoon has died, transit agency officials said.

BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey and General Manager Grace Crunican said in a statement, “The entire BART organization is deeply saddened by this tragic event and we ask the public to keep the officer’s family in its thoughts and prayers.”

BART officials said the shooting occurred at 1:03 p.m. and the officer was taken to a hospital to be treated for his wounds.

BART officials said they aren’t releasing any additional details at this time and the investigation has been taken over by the Dublin Police Department.

Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News

Former bank executive's trial against LAPD in beating case begins

By Richard WintonThis post has been updated. See note below for details.

A judge will allow a recording of a former Hollywood and banking executive acknowledging he used bath salts to be used only for impeachment purposes in his civil rights trial against Los Angeles police for beating him during an arrest.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner made the decision Tuesday as the civil rights and excessive force case against the LAPD began Tuesday for Brian Mulligan, a former Universal and Deutsche Bank executive.

The decision means Mulligan's statements to Glendale police two days before the LAPD arrest could be used only if he contradicts them in court.

The judge also decided the eight-person jury will not hear allegations that one of the officers Mulligan says beat him, James Nichols, was under investigation for sex acts with women informants unless they first find excessive force was used.

At the time of the alleged beating incident, Nichols was under investigation for misconduct in the LAPD's Hollywood Division.

Events unfolded in the May 2012 beating when officers responded to reports of a man trying to get into locked cars. They came upon Mulligan, who was on his way to an Eagle Rock marijuana dispensary, in the street and stopped him.

They found in his car what appeared to be bath salts, a synthetic substance not illegal to possess but that can cause powerful reactions similar to cocaine when ingested, according to a recounting of events by the Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD.

Although officers noticed he was “sweating profusely and appeared unsteady,” they determined Mulligan was not drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs.

Mulligan asked the officers to take him to a motel, according to accounts given by the officers and a police supervisor who was at the scene. They agreed, dropping him off at one nearby.

About an hour later, the same officers saw Mulligan “screaming and dragging a metal trash can in the street,” police reports show. Mulligan ran away from the officers, according to the LAPD's official account of the incident.

The officers chased Mulligan and found him snarling, thrashing and swiping at them as if he believed his hands were claws. They claimed Mulligan charged at them. The officers said they pushed him to the ground and kicked and struck him in the torso with a baton, according to police records.

Mulligan's nose was broken in several places and his shoulder blade fractured. After an internal investigation, the Police Commission found the officers' use of force was justified.

Mulligan had a very different account of the encounter. Through an attorney, he claimed the officers took him to the motel against his will and attacked him when he fled, beating him in the face and on the head and deliberately breaking his shoulder blade.

He accused the officers of fabricating their arrest report.

In announcing plans to seek millions in damages against the LAPD, Mulligan denied having ever used bath salts and accused the officers of lying about the arrest.

In response, the Los Angeles police union released a recording an officer in nearby Glendale made when Mulligan had struck up a conversation with him a few days before his arrest.

Sounding agitated and paranoid, Mulligan admitted to the officer to using a potent type of bath salts.

Klausner decided Tuesday that if jurors determine the city was at fault in the excessive-use portion of the trial -- setting off a second phase on negligent supervision -- the evidence against Nichols can be heard.

A woman who accused Nichols and another Los Angeles police officer of threatening her with jail unless she had sex with them will be paid $575,000 to settle her lawsuit against the city.

The Los Angeles City Council last week unanimously approved the payout to the woman, one of four to accuse Nichols and another officer of coercing them into having sex with them, according to court documents.

Nichols, who is on paid leave, denies any wrongdoing. His attorney, Robert Rico, said the woman and the other accusers "had no credibility."

[Updated at 8:15 p.m. PST, Jan. 21: An earlier version of this post omitted part of the sequence of events that led to the L.A. police union releasing a recording of Mulligan acknowledging to Glendale police that he used bath salts.]

Former sheriff's deputy ordered to stand trial in false arrest case

By Paresh Dave

A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy accused in a scheme to plant drugs and make a false arrest must stand trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Francisco Enriquez, 37, has pleaded not guilty to one count of perjury in a probable cause declaration and one count of filing a false report in connection with the October 2009 arrests of Tatiana Lopez and Miguel Amarillas, who received a $550,000 settlement from the county in a false-arrest lawsuit.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar de Longoria said Tuesday that there was sufficient evidence for the criminal case to move forward. Enriquez’s attorney, Vicki Podberesky, declined to comment.

Enriquez and two other deputies in a separate patrol vehicle pulled over Amarillas’ car at a Downey gas station. Enriquez alleged that the couple appeared to be under the influence of drugs, and both were transported to a sheriff’s station.

Enriquez swore under penalty of perjury that he found methamphetamine in his patrol car, apparently left by Lopez, after dropping her off. In a search of the couple’s Downey apartment, Enriquez alleged that he found more meth.

But male deputies are required to make special calls to dispatch when transporting females. Radio transmissions showed another deputy, not Enriquez, took Lopez and her dog to the sheriff's station.

Sheriff’s officials opened an investigation in early 2010 that resulted in Enriquez's termination. Prosecutors filed criminal charges against him in July 2012.

Lopez had no criminal record at the time of her arrest. She testified that she never used meth and barely even touched prescription drugs.

Amarillas had twice been incarcerated, the first time for robbery in 2000 and the second for assault in 2007. He was on parole at the time of the arrest.

Prosecutors allege that a confidential informant had tipped off the sheriff’s narcotics bureau about Amarillas being a drug dealer. Amarillas testified that he and the informant used to work together at an oil company and were acquaintances.

When no drugs were discovered at the traffic stop, the deputies conspired to frame Amarillas and Lopez, prosecutors allege.

Lopez testified that while she was in a holding cell she overheard Enriquez telling another deputy that he had “planted” the evidence. Both she and Amarillas also testified that another deputy at the sheriff’s station taunted them with a plastic bag, similar to one that might hold drugs.

The L.A. County district attorney's office initially declined to file charges against the couple, concluding there was not enough evidence. But prosecutors later charged Lopez with possession for sale of a controlled substance after deputies wrote new reports that provided more details about the night of the arrest. Those reports were written after Lopez and her attorney met with a sheriff's lieutenant to discuss a false-arrest complaint.

Sheriff’s internal crimes investigator Raymond Moeller said during the preliminary hearing that Enriquez also appears to have forged a sergeant’s signature on a document stating that Lopez refused to provide a urine sample. Lopez testified that deputies never collected her fluids despite her repeated pleas to be drug tested.

If convicted, Enriquez faces up to four years and eight months in prison. Enriquez is due back in court Feb. 4. 

East Haven cop sentenced in civil rights case

By    Mark Davis

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)-- Two former East Haven police officers learned their fate Tuesday. They were both convicted of conspiring to violate and violating the civil rights of members of the Latino community.

David Cari's lawyer pleaded for leniency because the former East Haven cop had been shot in the line the duty and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The judge didn't buy any of it and at Hartford Federal Court Tuesday, sentenced him to 2 and a half years, plus three years probation.

A large group of East Haven Latino residents sat through the four hour sentencing hearing.

"We feel sad for him, for his family. As a Christian community, we believe in the redemption but the consequences, any act has consequences," said Cecilio Cuapio, East Haven.

"We are glad that justice was served, we are also glad that our stories and our testimony were taken seriously," said Armando Morales, East Haven.

They are all parishioners with the priest that took the now famous video that led the U.S. Justice Department to condemn the East Haven police department and arrest four cops.

 "Two men have just made really bad decisions and bad actions and now are suffering the consequences for their actions. It's not a day for us to rejoice by any stretch of the imagination," said Rev. James Manship, St. Rose of Lima Church.

The sentencing hearing for Dennis Spaulding is still underway. Another East Haven cop is already serving two years, the fourth will be sentenced next month.

"We just wanted this harassment and brutality to stop," said Morales.

The prosecutor and the judge said that without the video, this case may have never happened.

Cari who has been in prison since October will be out for the next five weeks to settle his personal affairs. He reports to federal prison on February 25th.

Fired New Mexico cop regrets shooting at minivan full of kids

Former state police officer Elias Montoya said his ‘heart sank’ when he realized the dangerous mistake he made as Oriana Farrell fled a routine traffic stop.

BY STEPHEN REX BROWN

The former New Mexico state police officer who fired three shots at a minivan packed with five kids said “his heart sank” when he realized his mistake.

“My heart sank when they finally stopped and I was at the passenger side at that time seeing them get out at gunpoint again," Elias Montoya, 53, told ABC News, recalling the routine traffic stop gone awry.

"I couldn't believe it that there were that many children in there."

On Oct. 28 last year one of Montoya’s fellow officers pulled over the minivan driven by Oriana Farrell in Taos, N.M., for going 71 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Farrell had her five children in the minivan, aged 6 to 18.

The stop escalated into a heated argument and Farrell’s 14-year-old son confronted the officer

A heated argument between the trooper and Ferrell led her 14-year-old son to join the melee while a different trooper tried to smash the ride’s passenger-side window.

Montoya — who arrived with the confrontation in full swing — fired at the van as Ferrell drove off.

Speaking publicly for the first time regarding the incident, Montoya insisted to ABC he was aiming for the tire — not the passengers.

"I'm not shooting at a human being. I'm shooting at a tire," Montoya said.

After a high-speed chase Farrell pulled over, and Montoya realized what he’d done.

"If I knew that there was even one child in that vehicle," he said. "I wouldn't have done it."

He said it was the first time he’d fired his weapon after 12 years on the force.

Ferrell was charged with child abuse, fleeing and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia for two marijuana pipes she had in the car.

Montoya is pursuing an appeal of his termination. He was fired for violating trooper rules regarding the use of deadly force.

Cop busted 'swapping sex for drugs' with man in Michigan hotel room

Sex, drugs and law enforcement! Michael Strong showed up for his ‘date’ with amphetamines — and was armed and in uniform.

BY LEE MORAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A corrupt cop had a shock when he rocked up at a Michigan motel to swap drugs for sex and was busted in an undercover sting, police said.

Prairieville Township reserve officer Michael Strong, 37, was wearing full uniform and packing two handguns and a taser when he visited the Holiday Inn hotel room in Osthemo on Tuesday.

He was expecting to meet a man he'd been chatting to through gay online dating site Grindr.

Having promised he'd bring "molly, ecstasy or cocaine," Strong reportedly showed up with a bottle full of pills which was later proved to be a controlled substance.

On entering the room, he was stunned to find he'd been set up as part of an undercover Strong was arrested and charged with a felony count of delivery of amphetamines and felony use of a firearm.

MLive reports Michigan State Police set up the operation after hearing rumors that Strong was obtaining "sexual favors for illegal substances."

MPS officers created a fake profile on Grindr using details that they thought Strong "would particularly like."

He allegedly fell for the sting hook, line and sinker.

Strong appeared in front of a judge on Wednesday.

Newschannel 3 reports that he was ordered to surrender his law enforcement credentials and is currently out on bail.

Former bodyguard for Mayor Bloomberg convicted of attempted murder

NYPD Detective Leopold McLean could face between five and 25 years for the off-duty shot that was fired at his ex-girlfriend's former boyfriend, whom he hit in the buttocks.

A cop who worked as a bodyguard for Mayor Bloomberg was convicted of attempted murder Thursday for shooting his girlfriend’s ex in the buttocks.

Longtime NYPD detective Leopold McLean, 48, faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 for the 2010 off-duty gunfire outside his gal pal’s Jamaica, Queens, home.

“This is truly a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of breaking the very laws he had sworn to uphold,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Prosecutors said the 19-year NYPD officer confronted his lover’s ex and pointed a black handgun at the unarmed man.

When McLean “stated that he had something for LePaul Gammons,” the victim fled. A shot hit Gammons, 41, in his rear end.

“That’s cold and callous,” said Vivie Gammons, the victim’s mom. “Now you’re going to pay.”

McLean called 911 after the shooting and said he had tried to stop a burglary.

His lawyer said he will appeal. His daughter called him a good cop. “I’m p---ed off,” Chantal McLean said.

Ex-cop sentenced to 15 months for providing heroin dealer with license checks, NYPD parking placard

Devon Daniels was handed his sentence for running license plate and warrant checks for a Queens heroin dealer, his buddy Guy Curtis, who he also gave an official NYPD parking placard. Daniels was caught during an investigation of Curtis' drug ring, "POV Nation," by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

BY JOHN MARZULLI / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 Ex-NYPD cop Devon Daniels was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in prison for running license plate and warrant checks for a Queens heroin pusher.

"He transformed a confidential police database into a personal electronic reference library for a drug dealer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan King said.

Daniels, 32, resigned from the force in May after pleading guilty to federal charges.

Daniels also allegedly provided the drug dealer, Guy Curtis, with an official NYPD parking placard for his vehicle.

The cop was unmasked by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration during an investigation of Curtis' drug ring, "POV Nation," based in Jamaica, Queens. Daniels and Curtis grew up together, and the cop received a small amount of cash for the favors