Former chief Raimundo Atesiano told his cops to target random black people and charge them with crimes in open cases so they could boast their clearance rate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 14, 2018
Former Biscayne Park Chief of Police Pleads Guilty to Conspiring With Other Officers to Violate Victims’ Civil Rights by Making False Arrests
Former Village of Biscayne Park Chief of Police, Raimundo Atesiano, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with subordinate officers to violate individuals’ civil rights by making false arrests, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida, Robert F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney, and Troy Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
According to documents filed in connection with the plea entered today, Atesiano was acting under color of law as chief of police when on three separate occasions he ordered officers under his command to falsely arrest and charge individuals with unsolved burglaries. In court filings related to the plea, Atesiano admitted that on one occasion he instructed an officer to falsely arrest and charge an individual for several vehicle burglaries based upon what Atesiano knew were false confessions. According to the documents, Atesiano intentionally encouraged officers to arrest individuals without a legal basis in order to have arrests effectuated for all reported burglaries, which created a fictitious 100% clearance rate for that category of crime.
Guillermo Ravelo, a former Biscayne Park Officer who is named in the superseding indictment, previously entered a guilty plea for his role in the conspiracy with Atesiano to violate individuals’ civil rights. Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez, former Biscayne Park officers who also are named in the superseding indictment, previously entered guilty pleas for their roles in effecting false arrests.
The Court set the sentencing date for Atesiano on Nov. 27. Guillermo Ravelo is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 4, and Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez are scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16.
“The right to be free from false arrests is fundamental to our Constitution and system of justice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “Law enforcement officers who abuse their authority and deny any individual this right will be held accountable. As the Chief of Police, Defendant Atesiano was trusted by his community to lead their police officers by example; he has failed his community and the officers of Biscayne Park.”
“The vast majority of law enforcement officers across the nation serve our communities with honor and integrity,” stated U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg. “We will not allow the minority of officers who cast aside their oaths to tarnish the reputation of those who protect us all. Instead, as evidenced today with former Chief Raimundo Atesiano’s guilty plea, we will continue to hold them accountable in federal court for criminal acts that threaten our constitutional guarantees.”
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with a great deal of responsibility and authority and therefore must be held to a high standard. Raimundo Atesiano failed to meet this standard by abusing his authority and breaking laws,” said Scott A. Rottman, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. "Unfortunately, the actions of a very few dishonest officers, such as Atesiano and his co-conspirators, undercut the public’s trust and they must be rooted out. His actions do not represent the overwhelming majority law enforcement officers who are diligent, honorable professionals who are worthy of that trust."
“It is a deliberate injustice to intentionally charge and arrest an innocent man. Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano’s actions were intended to give his community a false sense of security and were a betrayal of his oath to protect the residents of Biscayne Park and all the people of Miami-Dade County,” commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “I applaud the combined efforts of our law enforcement partnership to end this calculated abuse of power.”
“Law enforcement officers must be held to the highest moral standards and when that trust is broken, FDLE will work aggressively to investigate and find the truth ensuring all citizens are treated justly,” said FDLE Miami Special Agent in Charge Troy Walker.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the FDLE, with assistance from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry C. Wallace, Jr., Trial Attorney D.W. Tunnage of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and Assistant State Attorney Trent Reichling.
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Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano used to brag about solving 100 percent of the town's crimes. However, this week he admitted to how he accomplished such an impossible feat - he framed innocent black people.
A scathing report from the Miami Herald details that on multiple occasions, former chief Atesiano told his cops to target random black people and charge them with crimes in open cases so they could boast their clearance rate - which is defined as the amount of open cases solved by the department.
According to the Miami Herald, Atesiano, 52, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of depriving the three suspects of their civil rights because he and the officers framed them. Although race was not a factor in the federal case against the former police chief, the three wrongly arrested men are black.
"If they have burglaries that are open cases that are not solved yet, if you see anybody black walking through our streets and they have somewhat of a record, arrest them so we can pin them for all the burglaries," one cop, Anthony De La Torre, said in an internal probe ordered in 2014, according to the Herald. "They were basically doing this to have a 100% clearance rate for the city."
On top of framing innocent black teenagers for dozens of crimes they never committed, the department was a place where cops openly drank on duty, practiced shady financial schemes, and had no problem bragging about their racism and sexism.
Investigations revealed that the second in command, Capt. Lawrence Churchman, routinely spouted racist and sexist insults and suffered no recourse.
"The captain has said on several different occasions he doesn't want any n--s, f--s or women b--s working at Biscayne Park," officer Thomas Harrison said according to the report.
According to the Herald, over the last decade, the department has also seen an officer arrested on charges of holding his wife hostage, a troubled officer sued for excessive force and another officer charged with beating a suspect.
During the years the cops were framing innocent black people for crimes of which they had no evidence, the clearance rate for the department was nearly perfect. Illustrating how many of the cases were pinned on innocent people, after the chief left, the department never solved a single one of the 19 burglary cases.
Atesiano denied the allegations in July when he and two other officers who were formerly indicted all pleaded not guilty.
Despite the new chief, Luis Cabrera, claiming to have cleaned up the department, for his second in command, he hired a problem cop that was embroiled in the old racist and corrupt department.
As the Herald points out:
In June, the village hired as its top cop Luis Cabrera, a former high-ranking Miami police officer. He says he's audited the evidence room, restructured the command staff and is getting civil-rights training for officers. Cabrera made Wollschlager his second-in-command, despite being entangled in the 2014 internal investigation.According to the Herald, Atesiano's conspiracy conviction carries up to 10 years in prison, though the ex-chief is expected to get far less time. Two other rights violations carrying up to one year each will be dismissed. Hopefully, this man who ruined the lives of innocent men will get the maximum sentence, which is still not enough.
The investigation concluded Wollschlager drank on duty and ordered suspect burglary arrests. But the department's new chief reversed course and cleared Wollschlager. He left the Biscayne Park force this spring for a command post in North Bay Village, but was soon let go after news broke about the indictment of Atesiano and the other officers. Cabrera said he decided to rehire Wollschlager in June.