Post by WaTcHeR on Jun 5, 2006 11:30:04 GMT -5
Officer Branning-Officer Tawn Christopher Duffy-Officer Joseph Ramia
Branning cops plea - no jail
06.02.2006 - Charges were dropped Thurs-day against James Branning, the last of four former city police officers to face charges of sexual relations with an underage girl.
Branning, 35, who pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual activity with a minor, tampering with a witness and official misconduct in December, withdrew that plea Thursday in return for the same deal struck by his three codefendants: He will relinquish his law enforcement certification.
Under his initial guilty plea, Branning had faced up to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sacks said he and Assistant State Attorney "Doc" Burgess agreed to let Branning withdraw his guilty plea because he cooperated with authorities.
"He was the one who came forward ... and gave us agreement to cooperate in the entire case," Sacks said. "So it would be wrong not to give him the same deal as the others."
The other three had pleaded not guilty and Branning's sentencing had been postponed until the outcome of their cases.
Branning was arrested in September along with then-officer Tawn Christopher Duffy, 37, and former Fernandina Beach Police officer Joseph Ramia, 36.
Then-officer Ernest Peter Haskins, 43, was arrested in November.
All four men were charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor; Duffy was also charged with perjury and official misconduct.
Charges were dropped against Duffy, Haskins and Ramia earlier this year in exchange for relinquishing their law enforcement certification, meaning they can no longer work in law enforcement in the state of Florida.
The arrests came after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into allegations the four men had sex with a then 16-year-old girl in 2002. The victim was a member of the now-defunct Police Explorers program, which Branning supervised.
Sacks said the victim agreed with the outcome of Branning's case.
"The disposition was run by the victim in the case and she was not against the disposition," he said.
