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NewsHound
12-22-2011, 06:13 PM
Former Hialeah Gardens cop could face 25 years for $1.9 million computer heist

From MiamiHerald.com


A former Hialeah Gardens police officer will be sentenced in February after his conviction for his participation in the theft of $1.9 million worth of Toshiba Laptop computers.More than 5,000 computers were being shipped from Forest Park, Ga., to Miami in July 2010, according to court records. Romero, 43, was convicted Dec. 15 of all four charges against him: conspiracy to receive and possess stolen goods and to commit cargo theft after having crossed a state boundary; receipt and possession of stolen goods; cargo theft; and obstruction of justice, according to his criminal docket report. The 13-year Hialeah Gardens officer faces up to 25 years in prison, court records say. He now resides at the Federal Detention Center near Northeast Fourth Street and North Miami Avenue. He will be sentenced in February.Michael Gary Smith, Romero’s attorney, declined to comment on the verdict.“We are just going to have to proceed with what we have from here,” Smith said.Hialeah Gardens Police Chief Van Toth said that Romero’s name surfaced during the early investigation. “He showed up in some of the videos of the nearby video cameras,” Toth said.“Cellphone records showed high volume of contact with those involved. It was then in the best interest that FBI get involved. When he was convicted by the jury, he is a terminated officer.”When he was initially arrested by the FBI, he was suspended without pay, Toth said.This is how the FBI describes what happened: On July 7-12 last year, Romero and eight others planned to steal 5,250 Toshiba laptops to then resell for profit. They unloaded the computers into warehouses that belonged to Leading Edge Custom and Illusion Auto Design in Hialeah Gardens.After the laptops were unloaded, the nine stored, concealed, transferred, and sold the computers. When Hialeah Gardens police were going to enter the warehouse, Romero made a phone call to his co-conspirators to warn them. Evidence was destroyed, according to the FBI. According to Toth, Romero was also the subject of an internal affairs investigation in early 2010 for conducting personal business while on duty.“While he was supposed to be patrolling and training a rookie, He purchased a firearm and had it delivered to him while on duty,” Toth said.“He was suspended for a week without pay.”According to records, charged in the four-count indictment involved in the computer heist are Jose S. Garcia, 37, of Miami, Jose Ramon Garcia, 57, of Miami, Jorge Raul Romero, 42, of Hialeah, Ulises Torres Creagh, 36, of Miami, Ramon Concepcion, 31, of Hialeah, Erving Enrique Ortega, 33, of Miami, and Edwin Antonio Ortega, 30, of Miami. Also charged were Alexeis Jimenez-Gonzalez, 42, of Homestead, and Edilberto R. Fernandez, 48, of Hialeah, who remain at large“One of the things that I learned in our business that there are going to be officers in our position that will compromise their integrity,” Toth said. “Truth is, they should be held to a higher standard.”

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12-23-2011, 04:18 PM
Here is a real news flash for all you “Questionable” Hialeah Gardens Officers and City Officials.
The VERY first thing Romero is going to do, like most dirty cops that get nabbed, is to make a deal with the Feds and turn informant to mitigate his sentence.
Sooo, if you are not squeaky clean, or if he knows anything criminal on you, expect a visit from unexpected guests wearing Federal Badges.
Merry Christmas

12-05-2012, 08:34 PM
FYI... HE TOOK IT LIKE A MAN........ NOT LIKE A FEW IN THE DEPARTMENT, WHO IS PERSISTENTLY KISSING THE MAJOR AND THE CHIEF ASS ..... INTERNAL AFFAIRS WILL SOON BE VISITING HGPD!!!

12-16-2012, 05:49 AM
Lol!! We don't have a "major". What a dumb mthfkr you are. IA is going to investigate ass kissing.

12-27-2012, 07:39 AM
What

01-13-2013, 06:35 AM
What's going to happen is he will get probation and Sweetwater is going to hire him in the rank of sergeant or above.