Skip to main content

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #564)
Drug War Issues

Sodomizing SOB NYPD cops get indicted, a New York Health Department narc gets in trouble, so does a Michigan State Police narc and a Texas jail guard, and Rod Blagojevich isn't the only thing crooked in Chicago. Let's get to it:

In New York City, three NYPD officers surrendered Tuesday to face felony charges for allegedly sodomizing with a police radio antenna a man they suspected of marijuana possession. Officer Richard Kern is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault, while Officers Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales have been charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct. All three were also charged with misdemeanors related to falsifying records. They were indicted last week by a Brooklyn grand jury investigating charges by tattoo shop employee Michael Mineo that when he fled into a subway station after the trio accused him of smoking pot, they tackled and handcuffed him, pulled down his pants, and sodomized him. Mineo was ticketed for disorderly conduct and upon release, and was hospitalized for several days for what hospital discharge papers diagnosed as "anal assault."

In New York City, a state Health Department supervising narcotics investigator was accused in a report by the state inspector general of being a "rogue" officer. According to the inspector general's report, Louis Crisafi, 49, had a yen for fentanyl lollipops, once fired his weapon accidentally while taking a prisoner to jail and never reported it, had lied about his credentials and employment history, staged amateurish and dangerous sting operations, interrogated suspects despite their protests they wanted lawyers, and conducted private self-defense counseling on state time. Crisafi came to the attention of investigators when the New York Times published a photo of his illegally parked yellow Corvette in a story about the abuse of government-issued parking permits. The report concluded: "Ths employee is clearly unfit for a law enforcement position, having shamelessly broken the laws and rules he was hired and pledged to uphold." Crisafi is currently on sick leave, but faces disciplinary action and possible criminal charges for violating suspects' rights.

In Monroe, Michigan, a Michigan State Patrol narcotics officer was placed on paid leave December 4 after police searched his home. Lt. Luke Davis was a member of the multi-jurisdictional Monroe narcotics investigation office. It is unclear what, if anything, they found, but the State Police said they were investigating "an allegation of potential misconduct." Davis was quick to trumpet his non-involvement with possessing, using, or trafficking illegal drugs, although he has yet to be accused of that. The results of the search and attendant investigation will be sent to the state Attorney General's office.

In Brownsville, Texas, a former Cameron County Sheriff's Department jail guard was arrested December 3 for allegedly smuggling drugs into county jails. Gabel Jacques Gonzales is charged with Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana and felony third degree attempted introduction of a prohibited substance into a correctional facility. Gonzales went down after conspiring with two people to obtain an unspecified amount of marijuana to smuggle into county jails. Unfortunately for him, his partners turned out to be a confidential informant and a DEA agent.

In Chicago, a former Chicago police officer was convicted December 3 of conspiracy for stealing thousands of dollars from drug dealers. Mahmoud Shamah and his partner, Richard Doroniuk, were also accused of stealing $30,000 from a police evidence locker in 2006. Doroniuk testified that he and Shamah routinely carried crack cocaine to plant on suspects, paid informants for bad information, and even bribed a judge to approve an arrest warrant.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

And people wonder why our jails and prisons are so over populated!!! The majority of the people these guys take advantage of is kids, did you know that??

Fri, 12/12/2008 - 3:23pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

WTF?????????????
Do you think the corruption of public officials might have something to do with the upbringing of these cats and not the drug war. For God's sake the f..ing govenor of Ill. is corrupt, can we blame that on drugs? No, it's just the way these idiots are. Drugs are still wrong!!!!!!

Sun, 12/14/2008 - 2:53am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I've monitored the comments for years now and can unequivocally state that the few drug warriors that do comment come off as very ignorant and/or senseless. This tendency manifests itself wherever drug warriors and pro-drug war morons attempt to verbalize their insane and illogical viewpoints. I attribute this to either a lack of good drugs, brain-washing, and yes; mental retardation. Or a combo of such. What can you do with them?

Sun, 12/14/2008 - 9:31pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

It's time we all faced the reality that the government isn't waging war on drugs.....they are waging war on the American people. That's why it must stop.

Thu, 12/18/2008 - 11:48am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Isn't this "war on drugs" a genocide to some extent?
Hasn't the government taken this way too far?
Is this still America?
The land of the free, with 2.3 million "free" in jail.
When are we going to build prisons just for government offenders?
Could you imagine the lack of corruption in there? (sarcasm intended)
And, we're picking up speed on the way down.
And what cracks me up, it the blatant criminal activity right in front of our eyes
and yet those that are supposed to "prevent" such atrocities, still have jobs.
And they get health care for life, and a pension, an outrageous salary, and a get out of jail free card.
And the ones that are stupid enough to get caught, don't get nearly the sentence a tax payer would.
What do they call it when you "don't know" your breaking any laws, but "you should know"?
Or, when you use "authority" granted by the people, to do harm, to those same people?
And, there are people in jail for pot, for way longer than any "crimes against the people" by
the ones payed to"serve and protect" will ever be.
Just pathetic.

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 7:52pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Here in Tennessee there are no laws against entrapment. It is very commone for the police here to shake down drug dealers while making an arrest and taking some of the money the drug dealer made, while leaving enough of the dealer's drugs in their posession to make sure the dealer will serve time in Tennessee's industrial prison complex.

Fri, 01/09/2009 - 6:00am Permalink
borden (not verified)

I deleted the Crisafi comment threads, because the posts were overwhelmingly all from one person, throwing out statements about the guy over and over. They may all be true, but we have no way to know whether they are true or whether someone just has an agenda to tear down an individual. Either way, that's not the purpose of this site. The information posted here about Crisafi is damning enough, so I think we'll leave it at that.

David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org

Sun, 01/03/2010 - 11:19am Permalink
borden (not verified)

In reply to by borden (not verified)

Two last things:

1) We will allow posts to stay that are here for the purpose of victims of misconduct to be able to communicate with each other for the purpose of seeking redress.

2) To be fair, I will mention that of the many comments posted here, most were negative, but one had positive things to say about investigator Crisafi.

David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org

Sun, 01/03/2010 - 11:28am Permalink
Bobo McFadden (not verified)

Internet rule #17

 

If you're going to insult someone's intelligence online, your assault shall be grammatically correct and free of spelling errors. Any less, and you look like a moron. Must be a cop.

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 1:32am Permalink

I was looking for some interesting post on Beta nature of business and this is what I found here, that's simply great. I am inspired by the writing style of author. I will be visiting in future to extend my knowledge.

Thu, 04/19/2012 - 3:50am Permalink

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.