Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2006
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2006 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Anthony M. Destefano
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

DRUGS COP SENTENCED

A former New York Police Department narcotics detective caught 
stealing money from drug dealers in Washington Heights was given a 
relatively light 6-year federal prison sentence yesterday after he 
admitted that greed and arrogance drove him to lawlessness.

Julio Vasquez, 46, choked up as he told Brooklyn federal Judge Carol 
Amon that he had disgraced himself and his family by robbing more 
than $740,000 from drug dealers over eight years.

"There is no excuse for it, absolutely no excuse for it," said 
Vasquez, who dabbed his eyes with a tissue as he spoke.

Vasquez had faced from 17 years, 6 months to almost 22 years, under 
federal sentencing guidelines. But because he cooperated with 
investigators, Brooklyn federal prosecutors filed a special letter 
with the court that allowed Amon to take the step of going well below 
the minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years. Four other former NYPD 
cops, including Vasquez's cohort Thomas Rachko, pleaded guilty in the case.

Vasquez was arrested in late 2003 after federal agents assigned to 
the Eldorado Task Force, which investigates narcotics and money 
laundering, spotted him and Rachko confronting a suspected drug 
dealer and then taking a satchel believed to contain cash. The agents 
were preparing to move in and nab the dealer but aborted the 
operation when Vasquez and Rachko appeared.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Vasquez had been robbing 
drug dealers for years. Vasquez immediately cooperated after his 
arrest and led federal investigators to a $740,000 stash of cash that 
he had collected over the years from ripping off narcotics 
traffickers, said defense attorney Eric Franz.

"There is no excuse for his behavior, and he betrayed his oath as a 
police officer," Franz said to Amon.

Amon said Vasquez, who resigned soon after his arrest, committed an 
"extremely serious offense.

"He used that position [as a detective] to engage in very serious 
activity, stealing money, stealing drugs," Amon said.

But Amon acknowledged that Vasquez, "from the moment he recognized he 
was caught, was completely forthcoming about his behavior. ... He 
hasn't tried to make excuses."

In sentencing Vasquez to 6 years in prison and not levying a fine, 
Amon indicated that corrupt police officers had to be encouraged to 
cooperate with authorities. She labeled Rachko, of the Bronx, who has 
yet to be sentenced, as more of the ringleader in the scheme.

Amon also allowed Vasquez, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife, to 
remain out on home detention and surrender to prison officials in 
about eight weeks.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman