Prison sentences delayed for six officers in Paterson police corruption case
PATERSON — The prison sentences for six Paterson cops convicted of stealing money from people they illegally stopped have been delayed while one of the former officers tries to get his conviction overturned.
The sentencing hearings for Jonathan Bustios, Michael Cheff, Daniel Pent, Eudy Ramos, Frank Toledo and Matthew Torres had been scheduled for the end of this month, but they have been postponed until September, federal court records show.
Cheff’s lawyers filed a 21-page memorandum with the federal courts last month arguing that his May 26 conviction on civil rights conspiracy and false report charges should be set aside and that he be acquitted or get a new trial.
Cheff was the only one of the six who took the case to trial. The others all pleaded guilty between December 2018 and October 2019, and their prison terms have been delayed as a result of their agreements to testify against Cheff.
The delays have frustrated Paterson activists.
“If this were a poor person with no power, they would have been in jail already. They wouldn’t be walking around free,” said resident Ernest Rucker, an outspoken critic of the Paterson Police Department.
Rucker took offense at Cheff’s efforts to get his conviction dismissed.
“For him to do that is a slap in the face of the residents of this city and an embarrassment for the Police Department,” Rucker said, adding that he believes there is no doubt about Cheff’s guilt.
Cheff — the sergeant who supervised the other five cops — is asserting that despite the jury’s verdict, the United States Attorney’s Office failed to present sufficient evidence to prove its case.
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Cheff also is claiming that there was “potential coerciveness during the jurors’ deliberations.” His lawyers cited notes the jury sent to the judge, including one that said it could not reach a verdict on the conspiracy charge. “We don’t see a path that will change that,” the jury wrote.
But about an hour later, the jury rendered a guilty verdict on both charges.
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In its 45-page response to the Cheff memorandum, the United States Attorney’s Office disputed his assertions, urging the judge to deny the former sergeant’s request.
Federal authorities said they provided sufficient evidence through the testimony from Cheff’s rogue subordinates, who told the jury their sergeant coached them on how to cover up their crimes, such as stealing only a portion of the money they confiscated from people while turning some cash in as evidence, and sometimes took a share of what they took.
The U.S. attorney’s response also noted that Cheff did not raise objections during deliberations as the jury struggled to reach a verdict.
U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden has scheduled oral arguments in Cheff’s bid to have his conviction dismissed for later this month.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ police corruption case: Sentences remain delayed
