Miami police cover-up alleged

Unregistered · 08-05-2020, 06:55 AM

No different!!! These accidents cover ups have to stop 🛑 stop killing people

A day after the shooting deaths of a pair of petty thieves, five Miami police officers shared barbecue lunch and thoughts on how to cover up the fact that they planted guns to make it look as if the fleeing suspects were armed, two of the officers say in sworn statements.

Their statements -- and guilty pleas -- were unsealed Friday by federal prosecutors soon after the arrests of 11 other city officers, including three of the participants in the 1995 shootings near Miami Avenue and the Interstate 395 overpass. All are accused of a years-long conspiracy to cover up unjustified shootings.

It is the biggest shakeup in the Miami police department since the infamous River Cops scandal of the mid-1980s, when dozens of officers were implicated in murder and drug ripoffs.

"The circle of officers is not yet closed, the investigation continues, and time is running out for those others to come forward," said Hector Pesquera, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Miami.

Unlike the River Cops case, none of the charges against these officers is for monetary gain. Rather, they stand accused of covering up abuse of power and questionable shootings in four highly visible cases between November 1995 and June 1997 in which three unarmed men died, another was wounded and one was shot at.

At the request of Police Chief Raul Martinez, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Justice Department will review the department's internal procedures in an effort to correct shortcomings that allowed such misconduct to flourish.

Identified but not among those arrested Friday were the two former officers, William Hames, 53, and John Mervolion, 47, who gave sworn statements in a closed courtroom to U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold -- Hames on Wednesday, Mervolion on Thursday.

They are free on bond after pleading guilty to the same basic charges as the 11 others: obstruction of justice and conspiracy in civil rights violations that included planting at shooting scenes weapons they had seized at other locations but failed to turn in to the department's property room.

U.S. Attorney Guy A. Lewis announced the 15-count indictment and the arrests of Lt. Israel "Izzy" Gonzalez, 42; Sgt. Jose Acuna, 43; Sgt. Jose "Pepe" Quintero, 37; and Officers Jesus "Jessie" Aguero, 38; Arturo Beguiristain, 41; Jorge Castello, 34; Rafael "Ralph" Fuentes, 34; Jorge Garcia, 38; Eliezer Lopez, 34; Alejandro "Alex" Macias, 39; and Oscar Ronda, 39.

All of the officers are additionally accused of giving false or misleading statements to investigators. Garcia and Gonzalez are also charged with perjury. The charges each carry penalties of between five and 10 years in prison and fines of $250,000.

Prosecutors wanted Aguero and Beguiristain jailed until trial, but only Aguero was held without bond. Special restrictions were placed on Beguiristain, who was released along with the others on $100,000 bond. He is confined to his home for much of the day and night.

Lewis said Hames and Mervolion, who each face five years in prison, have agreed to cooperate in the prosecutions of the others.

Badges stained'

The allegations, Lewis said, "are certainly disturbing -- officers sworn to uphold the law engaging in official misconduct, false testimony, planting firearms, stealing property, obstructing justice."

"The conduct of these officers has stained the badges of every hardworking, faithful, and honest police officer who puts his or her life on the line every day."

The four cases are referred to as:

I-395 Shooting, Nov. 7, 1995: Antonio Young and Derrick Wiltshire, both 20 and suspects in a smash-and-grab robbery, are fatally wounded as they bail out of a car and jump from an on-ramp to the expressway as Aguero, Garcia, Gonzalez, Mervolion and Hames fire 37 rounds. The indictment says Aguero fired "ricochet rounds" into the pavement near Young in an attempt to make it look as if he was shot from the front.

Beguiristain and Quintero arrived on the scene afterward and are accused of planting guns near the bodies. Hames and Mervolion say in their sworn statements that they and the others plotted their cover-up during lunch the next day at the Bar-B-Q Barn, 11705 NW Seventh Ave., a block west of I-95 in North Miami.

Northwest Seventh Court Shooting, March 12, 1996: 72-year-old Richard Brown is killed in a drug raid at his two-room home, 1344 NW Seventh Court, as Beguiristain, Macias, Fuentes, Lopez and unnamed SWAT team members fire 123 shots through the walls and door. Beguiristain "found" a gun prosecutors say was planted by another officer.

43rd Street Shooting, April 13, 1996: Beguiristain is accused of planting a gun, obtained from Mervolion, in the back yard at 347 NW 42nd St. to cover up for Aguero's having fired at an unarmed purse-snatching suspect named Steven Carter, who was not hit. Aguero allegedly had given the gun to Mervolion months earlier after failing to turn it in as evidence in a crime.

Coconut Grove Shooting, June 26, 1997: Daniel Hoban, 44, homeless at the time, was shot in the leg by Castello, who mistook his Walkman radio for a gun. Acuna, Aguero and Beguiristain went to the scene in the 3100 block of Grand Avenue and are implicated in planting a gun that Hames confessed to having cleaned of fingerprints months earlier. Hames said in his statement that Aguero gave him the gun to keep until it was needed.

With the exception of the Grove case, judicial inquests presented by the State Attorney's Office concluded that the shootings were justified.

Lawyers respond

Richard Sharpstein, who represents Beguiristain and Castello, said they are victims of overzealous prosecutors and predicted they would be acquitted.

"Artie is an outstanding cop, a wonderful police investigator -- I call him a cop's cop," Sharpstein said. "He's been fortunate enough to have been at scenes and removed weapons from dangerous individuals. He should be given a medal and not an indictment."

Sharpstein accused prosecutors of doing nothing more than rehashing old investigations in which the men were cleared. "There was no case then, and there's no case now."

Said Bill Matthewman, attorney for Macias: "The government can indict a piece of Swiss cheese and that doesn't mean it's still not full of holes. As to Officer Macias, it's full of holes and he plans to fight it."

Lopez's lawyer, Harry Solomon, said the officer would be vindicated. "He's extremely upset because he feels he did nothing wrong and that he's completely innocent."

Attorney Jay Moskowitz said he was surprised the government chose to indict his client, Gonzalez. "They're just allegations," Moskowitz said.

Antonio Young's mother, Alice Young, said the indictments left her with mixed feelings. "I'm hurt, I'm mad, I'm happy," Young said.

Despite the passing years and early internal police investigations that cleared the officers, Young said she resolved two months after her son died to fight for his He was a good person," she said. "Everyone that believed [he had a gun] can eat their heart out."

Members of the Wiltshire family declined to comment, but their attorney, Michael Feiler, said the indictments were long overdue.

"My clients had lost a lot of faith in the system when the initial investigation was conducted," Feiler said. "We've believed all along there was strong evidence that this was a throw-down case and that this was a cover-up. And it's nice to see it coming to light."

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl...067-story.html

Unregistered · 08-05-2020, 12:36 PM

Hey Jerry is this any different than you showing the trimmed bushes in the Mercado case. Then the M.E. pictures showed the truth that you had the bushes trimmed (cut down) to match the alleged witness’s statements. Because they couldn’t have seen what they claimed they did.

Unregistered · 08-05-2020, 02:35 PM

Cover-up happen everyday. It’s no different now then back back in the days. It’s what the family and friends do best.

Unregistered · 08-08-2020, 03:39 AM

Are the feds not on any of this? Had to be a reason local office brought piro back...he was moved to dc but sent back following the Stoneman debacle. Do they support rundle?