Former Paterson police Sgt. Michael Cheff was the last person to be sentenced in the case.
“This defendant preyed on the public he had sworn to protect and violated the rights of citizens in the process, all to line his pockets and those of the officers he was supposed to be supervising,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said in a statement.“You can’t show remorse for something you didn’t do,” his attorney, John Lynch, said.
Prosecutors highlighted a 2017 incident in which officers said they saw Cheff steal from a man’s home during an illegal search. Multiple officers testified that Cheff helped coerce the man into allowing him to search his apartment with the intent to steal money. Once inside, officers said Cheff stuffed cash into his pocket from a safe.
“ were trampling the civil rights of people living in Paterson, driving through Paterson,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kearney said at the trial. “... was their supervisor. He was their command officer.”On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jihee Gillian Suh reiterated that the impact of the “robbery squad” had real implications on the victims and on law enforcement’s relationships with the community, which the officers’ misconduct has further fractured.
Jerry Speziale Jr., the city’s public safety director, said the department has “numerous safeguards in place from technology to our internal investigations and staff inspections and will continue to police our department.”