Post by Shuftin on Sept 5, 2006 9:33:57 GMT -5
MIAMI — Disgraced Coconut Creek police officer Michael Dunsavage won't be trading his police uniform for prison duds.
Thanks to a deal brokered through the Broward State Attorney's Office, Dunsavage, 26, who last week turned himself in on charges that he robbed four Guatemalan day laborers in July, is expected to be placed on 18 months of probation.
He will be arraigned before Broward Circuit Court Judge Marc Gold this morning in Fort Lauderdale.
Dunsavage agreed to plead guilty to one charge of grand theft — a third-degree felony.
"We were sure this was something we could get," said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the state attorney's office. "We were not sure about going to trial."
The victims were undocumented workers, and the chance that they would still be around by the time the case went to trial could have put the case against Dunsavage in jeopardy, officials said.
Although he faces no jail time, Dunsavage agreed to resign from the police department and to give up his police certification, officials said.
And he agreed to have the $770 he stole from his victims taken out of his last paycheck to pay them back.
News that Dunsavage would not do time for his crime did not sit well with Jairo Raclemus, one of his victims.
"He is not going to jail? [Expletive], that's bad," said Raclemus, in Spanish. "At least he is not going to be a policeman anymore."
Eighty dollars was taken from Raclemus' wallet during a phony traffic stop.
Another victim was also upset — but not shocked — upon learning Dunsavage's fate.
"What? — he is not going to jail? He's a police officer — I'm not surprised," said Jesus Perez. Two hundred dollars was stolen from his wallet during another traffic stop.
"Thank God he is not going to be a police officer. What he did was bad. I am glad that he is returning the money he took from us."
According to the criminal complaint, Dunsavage — in uniform and driving a police car — would target Hispanic immigrants who spoke little English, stopping them for fake traffic violations.
After asking for their wallets and to see their driver's licenses, he would then swipe their cash.
The scheme was unearthed almost immediately. The first two immigrants Dunsavage stole from, on July 15, filed a complaint with the Coconut Creek Police Department.
"We seized Dunsavage's laptop computer — it's part of the report-writing system and used to run driver's licenses — and we found that he had made manual deletions of the people he had come in contact with — but the names were still in the hard drive," Coconut Creek police spokesman Tony Avello told The Miami Herald last week.
Dunsavage resigned from the force on Aug. 11 and surrendered to authorities at the Broward County Jail on Aug. 14. He could have faced five years in jail if the case had gone to trial.
"He is now a convicted felon," Ishoy said in a statement. "The hardworking victims who need the money will get it back quickly. And we're rid of a person from the ranks of law enforcement who clearly shouldn't be a policeman."
Thanks to a deal brokered through the Broward State Attorney's Office, Dunsavage, 26, who last week turned himself in on charges that he robbed four Guatemalan day laborers in July, is expected to be placed on 18 months of probation.
He will be arraigned before Broward Circuit Court Judge Marc Gold this morning in Fort Lauderdale.
Dunsavage agreed to plead guilty to one charge of grand theft — a third-degree felony.
"We were sure this was something we could get," said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the state attorney's office. "We were not sure about going to trial."
The victims were undocumented workers, and the chance that they would still be around by the time the case went to trial could have put the case against Dunsavage in jeopardy, officials said.
Although he faces no jail time, Dunsavage agreed to resign from the police department and to give up his police certification, officials said.
And he agreed to have the $770 he stole from his victims taken out of his last paycheck to pay them back.
News that Dunsavage would not do time for his crime did not sit well with Jairo Raclemus, one of his victims.
"He is not going to jail? [Expletive], that's bad," said Raclemus, in Spanish. "At least he is not going to be a policeman anymore."
Eighty dollars was taken from Raclemus' wallet during a phony traffic stop.
Another victim was also upset — but not shocked — upon learning Dunsavage's fate.
"What? — he is not going to jail? He's a police officer — I'm not surprised," said Jesus Perez. Two hundred dollars was stolen from his wallet during another traffic stop.
"Thank God he is not going to be a police officer. What he did was bad. I am glad that he is returning the money he took from us."
According to the criminal complaint, Dunsavage — in uniform and driving a police car — would target Hispanic immigrants who spoke little English, stopping them for fake traffic violations.
After asking for their wallets and to see their driver's licenses, he would then swipe their cash.
The scheme was unearthed almost immediately. The first two immigrants Dunsavage stole from, on July 15, filed a complaint with the Coconut Creek Police Department.
"We seized Dunsavage's laptop computer — it's part of the report-writing system and used to run driver's licenses — and we found that he had made manual deletions of the people he had come in contact with — but the names were still in the hard drive," Coconut Creek police spokesman Tony Avello told The Miami Herald last week.
Dunsavage resigned from the force on Aug. 11 and surrendered to authorities at the Broward County Jail on Aug. 14. He could have faced five years in jail if the case had gone to trial.
"He is now a convicted felon," Ishoy said in a statement. "The hardworking victims who need the money will get it back quickly. And we're rid of a person from the ranks of law enforcement who clearly shouldn't be a policeman."