A former East Cleveland, Ohio, police officer was sentenced Thursday for stealing thousands of dollars from people he pulled over during traffic stops.
A judge ordered Willie Sims, 32, to two years in prison. His partner, Alfonzo Cole, 35, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison and was fined $40,000, court records show.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo told Sims that his actions have “disgraced” hard-working officers.
“The one person that the public should be able to have confidence in … would be your emergency services, your police officers, your firefighters, your EMTs,” Russo said. “You’ve shaken the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system and the trust they put in police officers.”
The two men were arrested on July 9, 2021, one day after a motorist reported to the East Cleveland Police Department that they took $4,000 during a traffic stop at a gas station, the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor said in a news release. The victim was supposed to give a statement in court Thursday but told prosecutors that he had changed his mind because he feared being “targeted.”
The 21-year-old man said he was on his way to a funeral home to pay for his mother’s services when the officers robbed him, according to Cleveland.com.
Their arrests are connected to a wider investigation into the East Cleveland Police Department for corruption, according to NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland. More than a dozen current and former officers have been charged with various crimes, including former Police Chief Scott Gardner, who is accused of fraud, theft, money laundering and tampering with records. He has denied the charges.
The investigation into Sims and Cole uncovered that the former officers stole $14,781 from six victims between July 2020 and July 2021 while on duty, prosecutors said. Cole also swiped two firearms from the victims, the news release states.
Prosecutors said that on July 7, 2020, Sims responded to a gas station in East Cleveland after a 52-year-old victim got into a verbal altercation with a woman. The victim was at the gas station to pick up a check for his business when an irate customer started screaming at the cashier and then at the victim, prosecutors said in court. The victim left to go call 911 but Sims was already on scene.
The victim placed a firearm he was carrying on the seat of his car and $3,850 in cash fell out. Sims ordered the victim out of the car and then searched the vehicle, according to prosecutors. The victim told Sims about the money but Sims said there was no cash in the car, prosecutors said. They alleged that Sims took the $3,850, arrested the victim and had the car towed. Prosecutors belive the charge
Four months later, on Nov. 8, 2020, Sims swiped $1,300 from a car belonging to a 34-year-old victim. Prosecutors said that another person was driving the victim’s car when Sims conducted a traffic stop.
“While stopped, Sims found and removed $1,300 of the victim’s money from the trunk of the vehicle,” prosecutors said.
He robbed another motorist on July 8, 2021, taking $781 and suspected marijuana edibles, during a traffic stop, according to the prosecutors.
Sims apologized to his family and friends, telling the court that he was sorry “for putting myself in this position.” In addition to time in prison, he was fined $40,000.
Cole was accused of stealing money, marijuana and guns from victims on four separate occasions, prosecutors said. During one traffic stop on Sept. 22, 2020, he robbed a 43-year-old victim of $850 and about $400 worth of suspected marijuana, according to the news release. He then issued the driver a traffic citation. The citation included his signature and the forged signature of a police sergeant who was not on the scene, prosecutors said.
Sims and Cole each pleaded guilty last month to four counts of robbery and one count of theft in office.
Cole apologized for his actions during his sentence, according to WKYC. Judge Russo told Cole that he “damaged everybody in the community.”
“When a[n] individual who is a police officer has taken that oath, he, in essence, is in a criminal category of his own,” Russo said. “He, in effect, is a traitor to the system. He’s far worse than your normal burglar or robber or criminal.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
