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The guilty verdicts against Michael Cheff, 51, of Oakland on Thursday followed a five-day trial in U.S. District Court in Newark.
They also prompted a statement from Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh:
"Michael Cheff was fired [Thursday]. His trial revealed sickening and horrific acts committed by former officers who violated their oath to protect and serve. Paterson has taken significant steps to root out such conduct and prevent it from happening, including ensuring every officer is equipped with a body-worn camera, officers are re-trained, and de-escalation is a point of emphasis.
"There is a zero tolerance for any officer who violates the law. I will ensure that such officers are held accountable to the public, as well as to their fellow officers who do the right thing every day as they put their lives on the line for our great City. As we close this chapter in our City's history, I look forward to continuing the work to restore and earn back the trust between the police and community they serve."
Federal prosecutors had accused Cheff of signing off on bogus reports submitted by a group of rogue officers who routinely violated citizens’ civil rights by stopping and searching them on the street and in vehicles.
Eudy Ramos, Daniel Pent, Jonathan Bustios, Matthew Torres and Frank Toledo were on duty when they stopped and searched vehicles without justification and stole cash and other items from the occupants, federal authorities said.
They also illegally stopped and searched people on the street or in buildings, then swiped cash from them, an indictment on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says.
Cheff got a cut while approving bogus reports the officers filed, it says.
One of three officers stopped and arrested a suspect from whom he stole a few hundred dollars, then went to his apartment with Cheff -- while another remained with the handcuffed civilian in November 2017, the indictment says.
They got consent to search the apartment by lying to the suspect’s mother, after which Cheff took money and drugs from a safe in the closet of the suspect’s room, it says.
Cheff handed a small portion of the money to one of the officers and told the officer to log it into evidence, then put the rest of the money in his pocket, prosecutors said.
In a bathroom back at headquarters, Cheff “gave the officer who had stayed behind to guard the individual a portion of the stolen money and gave a portion of the stolen money to one of the officers who had searched the apartment with him,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Cheff also “approved a police report that falsely stated that the officers had recovered $319 from a shelf in the individual’s room,” Sellinger said.
Cheff had actually stolen a “substantial amount of money,” the U.S. attorney said.
Later that day, one of the officers sent text messages to another officer discussing the theft.
The officer said, among other things, that Cheff “got us for over a stack today,” that “there was a safe” and that Cheff “grabbed the cash,” Sellinger said.
The suspect reported finding $2,700 missing from the safe, he added.
Unlike Cheff, the five others charged in the corruption probe took guilty pleas in exchange for leniency. Sentencings for them, as for Cheff, are pending.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Kearney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jihee G. Suh, both of his Special Prosecutions Division secured the guilty verdict, he said.
Sellinger also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and Paterson Police Department – in particular, the department’s Office of Internal Affairs -- for their assistance.
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