|
"You and your merry band essentially raped and plundered entire neighborhoods," U.S. District Judge Ronald told the former police officer, Broderick Jones, in imposing the sentence.
Jones, 36, pleaded guilty to getting information from gang members about where drugs were stashed and leading fellow officers in staging mock raids during which they confiscated the narcotics.
Instead of arresting the dealers and turning in the drugs, Jones and his fellow officers turned the narcotics over to other dealers.
After his grandmother and 16-year-old daughter took the witness stand and testified that he had always been a good family man, Jones addressed Guzman and pleaded for a lenient sentence.
"Have mercy on me," said Jones, who has been behind bars for three years. "I pray every night that God will take greed out of my heart."
Guzman said he took into consideration that Jones had a good record as a Navy aircraft mechanic in the Persian Gulf War, working on F-14 Tomcats aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal.
But the judge said Jones had taken an oath to uphold the law and had to be punished severely for his "depraved violation of this oath."
[Associated
Press; By MIKE ROBINSON]
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
