law enforcement officials are responsible for putting criminals behind bars but what happens when they're the ones who get sentenced to prison here are five times where corrupt police officers were sentenced in court your Council mentioned Rehabilitation what does that mean to you well Rehabilitation is changing stand up will Rehabilitation be changing behavior in my mind in order to not move away from different outcomes this is officer Michael amot 37 years old from the uid police department who in 2017 conducted a traffic stop on Richard hubber after noticing that the vehicle's license plate was registered to an individual with a suspended driver's license during the stop amot alleged that hubard resisted arrest and proceeded to repeatedly punch him later on in August 2019 amot was arrested and charged in uid Municipal Court after following an extensive investigation however due to the disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic his trial was postponed for 2 years ultimately resuming in 2022 good morning good morning thank you to the court for allowing me a few minutes to speak it's been a long road I was 31 years old at the time of this incident I'm 37 today as I get older I tend to put things in perspective more raw molded in shape by our experiences in life and the outcome of those experiences since it is no different for me and I learned a lot as I look back I know I've certainly changed in many ways far from a perfect person one thing I've always done is look back and reflect on my mistakes and failures it is very important for personal growth history is a great teacher the only problem is you can never change it can't rewrite it can only learn from it feels like we've been polarized to feel that people on both sides of this topic are either all good or all bad but the truth there's more Nuance than that the procedure leading up this moment has exposed me to what defendants are really up against once they're accused in the system this case was investigated by numerous outside agencies with immediate attention the case got Aur it certainly should have been after all investigations are search for the truth I want the public to know what really happened to get us to this point in day one I cooperated fully with my own Department of investigation I County Sheriff's Office use of force investigation team and the FBI was repeatedly interviewed by numerous investigators in 2017 I never downplayed my actions these investigations were reviewed by my local Department County sheriff's deputies federal agents local prosecutors County Prosecutors and federal prosecutors at the conclusion I was never charged by the city the state and federal government 2 years after this incident in 2019 the special prosecutor filed charges after negotiating a salary of $250 an hour pre-trial stretched on for another 3 years before trial during the trial I was disappointed that the jury didn't get to hear about the findings of those investigations or could hear from a single investigator I was also disappointed about how known falsehoods were allowed to be presented like the truth one of the most shocking examples was a prosecution witness called test that I was celebrating in the aftermath of this arrest he testified that I was high-fiving fist bumping and dabing it up with other officers there was five police cars on East 228 street that day all with their dash cameras on and rolling they all had overlapping field to view I can be seen in front of one of those cameras the entire time I was on scene until us transported to the hospital nothing remotely close to what the witness describ happened with me or any other officer on the scene they knew this and put the witness on the stand anyway this was a use of force encounter that divided a community it is something I've replayed in my head for the better half of a decade this is not something I've ever celebrated I take full responsibility that there was a failure on my behalf to get Mr hubber in custody quickly the incident was prolonged and I was shot with the taser during the deployment I broke my hand rough your tenons and injured my shoulder when most people see a violent encounter like this they usually ask are officers allowed to punch people and if so under what circumstances are they allowed to do it for me it was important to attempt to educate the jury as I was educated as a police officer I called every relevant instructor I had to the stand taser instructors I had Department Houston Force instructors captain and of the use of force committee my Police Academy use of force instructors and traffic stop instructors I hired a national use of force expert who reviewed everything each of them agreed that I AC give them scope of my training use of force is supposed to be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer in light of their training and experience every officer testified that my response was consistent with the law policy and training he also submitted handbooks training documents and videos supporting testimony regardless of how I feel about the situation I accept the jury's verdict however it's become clear that there's a disconnect between how officers are taught to react and how the public expects officers to react I cannot change the outcome here but I can make positive changes going forward I have to figure out how to move forward and make sure I don't end up here again as a community we have to figure out how to come back together and make sure we don't end up here again as well a law enforcement training must keep officers safe and also be consistent with public policy a lot of changes have been made since 2017 and if you can give me just another moment I'm going to talk about a lot of the changes that I've made in the Department's made during the aftermath of this incident the department started looking at alternative use of force training that does not rely on striking several officers were sent become Gracie survival tactics instructors these instructors Now teach a revolutionary defensive tactics system based on Gracie jiujitsu these tactics are more effective at subject control instead of play pce instead of paying compliance through strikes kicks tasers Etc utilizes mechanical control holes and body positioning I think the leadership of my department would attested that champion these efforts early data from one Department utiliz ing this program regularly shows a 48% decrease in officer injuries and 53% decrease in suspect injuries based on deployment of presu Jitsu in their controlis the department found that uh phisical complications with suspects were 200% more likely to be injured by an officer that did not have the same training they also reported a decrease in Cas R usage and workers count things by $70,000 per year which would significantly less than the cost of the program I'm proud to share this is now part of our you Police Department's annual defense and tactics training program previously I had 4 hours of training every 3 years now the training is completed at least on an annual basis I've personally taken at least almost 100 hours of training outside the police department and around the state pertaining the use of force and human relations since this incident the uid city council has provided funding to officers giving them the option to seek additional training additional use of force training on the officer's own time at a local gra J ju-jitsu School the school is owned and operated by another local police officer I've taken full advantage of this opportunity so far and out of all the officers participating in the program I've Advanced the furthest and attain the most rank since this training program began you received some grant money through Co I worked with a group of officers to get some of that money to build a new use of force training room we're giving approximately $20,000 for materials to price design and build a new defensive tactic training area I helped design a new room I personally constructed a large 1120 ft training mat complete with wall mats and Department logos I put in every screw knut and bold into the new training area myself we've never had anything like it before I worked with one of the defensive tactics instructors to create waivers so we can use the new training area in our own time using Department techniques to get the repetitions we need to not only be more effective on the streets but to keep suspects and officer safer during these encounters I want to end by saying I'm not an advocate for or against use of force everything I did on that day was based on my training and experience from here on out I'll be an for subject control training department wide going forward so we can all be at our best when the time comes I have a deep respect and love for the citizens and this community I want to do my best to serve them after all what they deserve thank you thank you officer Ott's address does reflects his commitment to minimizing the use of force against people but if fails to demonstrate any empathy toward towards his victim Richard hubard something even the judge notices and points out officer I me U your Council mentioned Rehabilitation what does that mean to you well Rehabilitation is changing be stand up will Rehabilitation be changing behavior in my mind in order to not move away from different outcomes um so like in this casee for example we got here for in I believe punches in the creation of the fight if there's a better way or faster way to do it then the police department is looking at the ways to do that so a lot of that's being taken for me training at my own time and U department on it that's Rehabilitation to me is changeing behavior you know I'm I'm listening to everything that uh was said by everyone and and particularly what you were saying one of the things that I did not hear you did not address Mr hubard at all uh and I'm not saying it's something that need to be done but it's an observation that I made um and part of that uh you know I I try to observe and and see what's going on and listening and you can be seated uh I'm going to talk a little bit here I just wanted to ask that question I you know I I do I didn't just sit here and let the trial pass me by I I observed the testimony from everyone I listened one one of the things that uh stood out to me is that the initiation of this incident probably never should have occurred when you reive that initial radio communication that initiated this whole thing and the other thing that sort of stood out to me was that in approaching the vehicle and asking Mr hubber to get out of the vehicle from my perspective there was no there was an inability for him to get out of that vehicle without making contact with you inability to get out of that field um I I appreciate the things that you said about mistakes and failures the the amount of Investigation that's gone on that took place as a result of that and and I I appreciate all of that you know I uh personally spent over 30 years in the military so I'm used to having orders following orders obeying orders a regimented order of things I I'm accustomed to that and and I appreciate the necessity of police having the ability to we need them we need them to do their job appropriately and when we deviate from that then we have to do what we need to do to ensure that uh it doesn't occur in the future and I I appreciate what uid has done the uid police department has done with respect to modifying how contact is made and how you get people under control and police need to be able to control folk no doubt about that there must be control but uh there's a limit to how that's done and based upon the evidence that was presented in the test testimony and and I did listen to your trainers your prior instructors I did listen to them but I I do believe in this case I believe the jury got it right I do uh and the court must impose the sentence at the court appeals is appropriate in a case like this and I appreciate uh the information provided in the pr sentence investigation and generally uh I'm the type of person that generally follows recommendations generally speak I'm not here today to send a a message to the world I'm here today to evaluate what occurred here and especially given the length of time that has expired since this incident and to today take what I think is the appropriate action in imposing a sentence how long did Mr hubt spend in jail I think an hour or two an hour or two okay okay good that's a good thing um Mr Hubbert let me say to you um it's been seven years yes uh the city of uid uh compensated you yes uh if you need assistance you need to go and get that assistance but uh I'm not going to say you're not going to have uh instances of flashback or what have you but you need to move on with your life also oh yes yes sure and not uh let this incident uh continue to hover over you the city compensated you Council I appreciate uh your comments with respect to the things the court is required to take a look at and closing a sentence uh based upon uh the evidence presented and the pre-sentence investigation the court at this time will impose a sentence of U 90 days uh require you to pay a fine of $11,000 and will require you to pay the court cost in addition the court will suspend the sentence of 90 days I place you on non-reporting community control for a period of one year uh if you violate during that one year then the court will retain the ability to impose the SS anything on behalf of the state no you're on behalf of Miss Dania just what um count for count while U Mr H's rights were violated and the officer as an officer he used his authority to do that however given the length of time involved here the Court will use the assault as opposed to the violation of civil rights not saying they weren't violated than but given the length of time uh the court will use the assault charge anything else thank you that's all good luck to you sir thank you um I I'm I'm still troubled by the fact that you did not address Mr har I I can address I know that's all right you're right no it's not all right I don't need it you do need it you you say you can't move on I'm telling you you need to move on not easy life is not easy but as long as you let that handicap you he has control right as long as it handicaps you he has control you make that decision sir do you want him controlling or this situation to control you no need to think about that that's all rise is now you all do what you want to do the jury convicted amot on one count of misdemeanor assault and one count of interfering with civil rights as a result uclid police officer Michael emot received a sentence of one year of non-reporting community control and a one ,000 fine for the assault on Richard hubard initially visiting judge guy Reese also imposed a 90-day sentence but the sentence was later suspended if you believe that officer Michael amot was unempathetic and misused his authority and power wait till you hear about Sheriff Charles reader's case our debit card was put in a machine and the money was taken from our checking account well obviously that doesn't answer the question where did the money in the checking account come from but no at that time I was making the salary of the sheriff and my wife was making approximately $2500 just asking the question here that that that's all this is Charles reer a former Pike County Sheriff who in 2019 was accused of stealing money from his Department's drug busts for his gambling addiction reader was also brought into National Spotlight back in 2016 for his gambling at the time reader had been a part of a case in which eight members of the Roden family were found massacred in Pike County reader claimed that he couldn't get any sleep because of the case which Inn led him to gambling your [Music] honor I stand here before you today to take accountability for my actions as a sheriff of Ohio I should excuse me I shed bad light on the office of sheriff I can only ask that my staff their families the community and my family who is here today will forgive me for the undo stress I call St for this I am terribly sorry I stood in this court on September 24th and pled guilty to the charges against me to accept responsibility for my conduct that day within minutes everything that I've worked for professionally and honorably for 25 years was stripped to me with nobody de BL but myself my staff and I had United with the community and had a partnership and trust and they truly believe believed in us as a unit as a whole and I betrayed that trust if I could go back and change it I would a million times for this is not who I am never ever did I imagine myself on the defense side of this courtroom that I've spent 25 years in mod life in in this County in law enforcement as the sheriff I gave my staff in this community all of me every ounce of my be you are aware your honor that this has affected my mental health as well as my physical well-being there's nothing left for me to give or to take from me other than my freedom I have and I now pray that the court will find mercy on me and I beg the court if they see fit to grant me Community Control even with the strictest sanctions that I have proven to this court in the past two and a half years that I can abide by I am a good person who made bad decisions and choices I can continue to be a productive citizen in this County and be in the community with the love that that I have for my family my friends and my neighbors I'm asking all this so that I have the opportunity to watch my son graduate from high school and 10 college this year my daughter is getting married in October so that I can be there for her and my wife so I can be a husband that I haven't been in 25 years due to my career I've just not been there given the opportunity I would be able to spend the time with my mother and my father and continue to be there for them when they need me in the last years of their lives as I've experienced this week with my dad when two days ago I thought that I had lost him he's still at Riverside isn't he yes ma'am he's not on a ventilator he is on he's he's on two forms of ventilation without the actual that's not with the nurse said but okay he's on he's got some oxygen or breathing equipment but it's not Ava okay I have no words for the shame that I have in the that I feel and the regret that I have betraying and discipline the trust that I had with my staff in the community and causing damage to my family's good name again I beg of you to impose a sentence of community service but the strictest cency and sanctions y honor please do not send me to prison I have Ro but I'm not rued I still have a lot of good left in me I thank you for your time it's evident that Mr reader has committed a dishonorable offense and although Mr reader asks for forgiveness the gravity of the crimes he's committed leaves little room for leniency the only appropriate consequence for such a misconduct that would be accepted by the judge citizens and the law is imprisonment I have a couple of questions for the big question I have and is on everyone's mind I'm assuming is why did you cut open these evidence envelopes and take the money out and then in some cases you put it back although you were caught because the envelopes had been unsealed uh and sealed again improperly and the denominations did not match what was taken at the crime scene or from those individuals uh I guess why did you take the money I took the money and mind you this does not excuse it but from drug dealers that took it from parents of very poor people in this County that money regard regardless of what the state and what the media has claimed in the past years of a gambling problem and that money being used for gambling was used when there was a tree planted in the name of the shelman boy it's at the entrance of Western High School to the left as soon as you pull in nobody could pay for that tree nobody offered to pay for that tree a drug dealer did when schools had um cheerleading or peeeee that had car washes and such I would have our Cruisers taken down there my men and women did not make good money so some of them would give them $2 $5 I took money from that and I provided it to those people now I replaced it in time the money was not in the safe the day that they came and they did the search warant of my office three days prior to that which the state has not included I had knowledge from my secretary Kelly Sanders that the security company was coming into my office and that office was going to be open to anyone I removed those monies from that safe and I put it in the back of the F250 that I drove now the day they did the search for I'm sorry and it would be safer in the lock box in your car then it would be in a safe an open Office only you have and a few other people have combination Well ma'am no one should have had the combination but me and it strikes me odd that Lieutenant burett at the time would make a statement to the state that he'd never seen the accordion file that I provided the state I did so only on the direction of chiefs Michael Spirits who' worked for the state at the time who asked me if I had a comprehensive list of all monies that was in that safe and I did not due to the prior Sheriff never when there was an officer involved shooting that involved his brother that sheriff resigned and I took over that office when I swore him in as a special Deputy he left two black marks leaving that office he never he handed me the keys he never did an inventory of the safe never provided any paperwork of what was in that safe the money in that safe or anything I find it odd that in their search warrant their confidential informant tells them everything to do with my office where the safe is that I have members of my staff telling them that they have never seen anything like that in my safe which would only be suspect to the fact that they had gained entry into my office and into my safe to have that information to provide to the state I did what Chief Spirits asked me to do I organized and made a list of every envelope and every dollar that was in that safe including the name of the defendant the date that it was taken and provided to the state at my attorney's office to the point that I had to lend my knife to them to open these packages so that they could be counted my attorney was called away for court and I continued to stay in that office and assist the state in counting the money to my knowledge there was none of the envelopes that didn't contain the right denominations of money their discretion or their objective is that the money from a video that was counted appears to be different than money that was in the envelopes that they seen well from the video from the PSI the video shows on different dates officers counting out money in one instance yourself um coming to $7,000 for instance and then turning it over and there was like $600 short and ma'am your honor I advise my attorney I would take a stipulated polygraph on the $1,000 that I provided on that particular case that the state now has a cashier check for $11,000 for State versus Carter at that scene on Rainbow Trail Road I was with Lieutenant burett it was videotaped it was videotaped of Mr Carter opening a locked door there's a videotape that exist opening a locked door so we could prove that that door was locked and that Mr Carter had a key we entered that it was being videotaped by Lieutenant burett Mr Carter pointed out where those funds were they were in some sort of little container if I remember correctly they were pulled from thata container and counted they were taken to the back of that same F250 and placed in the same lock box in that F250 where Mr Carter got in the front passenger side of my truck with me Lieutenant burett followed me in his vehicle directly to the office without stopping we got to the office I provided Lieutenant burett with the entirety of those funds so where the th000 mistake comes in I have no idea whether it was a County ER I have no idea but I would agree to a stipulated polygraph but you put guilty I I did ma'am yes your honor and you're asking me and I'm giving you the explanation and I have paid the restitution I understand you've given uh yes your attorney the but that particular case restitution um was doing doing owing excess of $4,000 $4,850 that's been done today all right I want to go back to all right in the PSI the prent investigation it indicates what you're saying here as to why you claim to use the money for various charitable Community things and then but the PSI officer notes there's no documentation that you used it for those things right I did not document those things okay now I I want to ask you about this all right that's your state statement what you say you use the money for and okay that's on record um but I do want to ask you some other things here okay the majority of the acts in this indictment took place between June 2017 and July uh 2008 uh or right June 2017 and September 2017 okay uh the state uh obviously alleges in their brief that particularly since you do not have any documentation of that you use this quote for charitable purposes uh they secured your bank records and credit card records and all of that uh and indicates uh did you lose $3,000 gambling at the scota downs recino between June 2017 and September 2017 yes not by myself they have cards and and of course again your honor I've pled guilty to this but they have cards that you put in a machine I can have a card in my name and I can have a card in my name that my wife possesses so I can be at one machine and she can be at the other and the money that she spends and the money that I spend they count on the same card and calculate the money as one now the state has my financial records They will see that when we are at those casinos and I have not been to one since and will'll never be one again that the money was taken that our debit card was put in a machine and the money was taken from our checking account well obviously I that doesn't answer the question where did the money in the checking account come from but no at that time I was making salary of the sheriff and my wife was making approximately $2500 just just asking the question here that that that's all the pay okay uh also I want to ask you in late June 2017 you took a trip to Reno Nevada for the sheriff's conference and then you withdrew 28 $2800 in an ATM this is in addition to the expenses related to the trip for which you were not embur reimbursed until later are you see where they the state believes that some of this is due to gambling I mean you're talking like over or almost $6,000 in a couple months that you lost um or expended on gambling and at that point we were making almost $1,000 a month and that again was from my checking account where it should show my direct deposits my my wife directs deposits and that it came from our debit cards where I retrieved that money I don't doubt it came from your debit cards the question is where did the money come that went to your checking account that's I guess that's that's that's where that's where the media reported that I had marital problems because it came from our joint bank account my wife made very good money at the time and I took that money and I gambled okay all right um that's all the questions the court has thank you your honor thank you all right I initially want to say um first of all I have sentenced a number of public officials every case is different no two set of facts are the same and deciding what I believe is an appropriate sentence the court has looked at the purposes and principles of sentencing I've read over the brief submitted by the attorneys I've read over the pre-sentence investigation you know what I have one more question for you yes your honor here it is okay now the thrust of some of the letters especially from Miss craft the licensed social worker yes ma'am who did who didn't start to see until March 2019 talks about the stress from all these cases all these criminal cases that rod and murders and whatever did you ever tell your counselors about about stealing uh from the evidence envelopes yes we discussed that I'm sure there was a lot of stress and sleepless nights uh you had in terms of your post-traumatic stress syndrome or your anxiety caused by the fact that you opened up these envelopes and took money it didn't belong to you yes your honor I was being treated since 2013 for those conditions and it progressively got worse well it got worse during the time period in which these offenses occurred and uh in 2016 starting the investigation of the rodent homicides but I want ask you that because I from what I can tell uh the social worker never mentioned anything in there as a stress factor she just focused on your police work um and I would think as I said if you committed a of thefts wouldn't that cause stress no Mr boo let him talk I didn't want him to interrupt you yeah I apologize go ahead I believe in the last letter that she provided she spoke of the court cases and the stress and things that I was encountering because of that as well I'm I'm unsure I I believe I provided that to my counsil yes but that that's that's again uh in terms of the the stress over this case which has caused I'm sure Untold trauma for you and your family uh it's always the unintended innocent victims the families that actually suffer the most in 2020 the accused Mr Charles reer faced a series of felony charges including theft in office and tampering with evidence accepting the responsibility for his crimes Charles reer pleaded guilty then in a decisive courtroom moment on March 24th 2021 in Waverly the judge sentenced rer to a total of three years in prison one year for the two counts of theft in office and two years for the two counts of tampering with evidence but if you think that cops getting sentenced for exploiting their power stops here then you must be in the dark about the case of David Oliver Mr Oliver you you did stipulate to the facts I did the facts as they were written on paper by other officers and I want to stay with a no contest play your honor I'm doing it with a clear mind this is David Oliver aged 56 who became the Brimfield Chief back in 2004 amassing a significant social media following through his Facebook page however his tenure took a challenging turn in 2015 when allegations surfaced of mistreatment toward a female officer Crystal Casterline within his Department this led to a civil lawsuit being filed against him by Casterline and then later escalating to Federal Court proceedings ultimately the case was dismissed in 2017 following a settlement agreement nonetheless Oliver found himself entangled in further legal proceedings related to his involvement in the Scandal and an attempted theft in office Mr Oliver I'm going to ask you some questions on need answer yes or no would you please see CH you want to sit the podium or like there sir have you been informed by your attorney and you understand the nature of the charges to which you're pleading which would be count one attempt the theft in office misdemeanor of the first degree count two SE will solve misdemeanor of the first degree a lawful restraint misdemeanor of the third degree and unauthorized use of property misdemeanor of the first degree yes sir do you understand each of the misdemeanor of the first degree may bring with them up to 180 days from jail and up to a $1,000 fine in court CS yes your honor I do you understand the misor of the third degree may bring with it up to 60 days jail and up to a $500 F in Courthouse yes your honor I do understand sir you understand you do have a right to a trial in this matter either to the court or to a jury yes your honor I do understand that are you waving your right today sir yes ma'am sir you sign wave our right to jury trial yes ma'am and did you do so voluntarily yes ma'am sir do you understand you have the right to confront and cross exam Witnesses against you I do understand that too are you waving that right yes I am and sir do you understand you have the right to subpoena witness who command justify on your behalf yes ma'am I understand are you waving that right I am yes and Sir understand it is the obligation of the prosecutor's office prove your guilty on that yes ma'am are you waiting that right yes ma'am sir you understand you're not required to testify against yourself yes ma'am are you waving that right yes ma'am and sir you understand by entering a no contest plea with the stipulation to a finding a fact you wave your right to appeal any issue that may been brought up a tri yes ma'am and you are waving that right sir yes ma'am and sir you signed a written plea of guilty I'm sorry written plea of no contest waiver rights document is that correct four or five pages long yes did you sign this document voluntarily yes did you review this document thoroughly with Mr Pierce yes I did do you have any questions at all read anything contained within this document no ma'am sir you are a US citizen yes ma'am sir I briefly got over your rights with you I know Mr Pierce has got over your rights with you you've gotone over do you have any questions regarding your constitutional rights no may do you wave those rights at this time yes ma' to the charge in count one of attempted theft in office misdemeanor the first degree how do you ple no cont count two simple assault misdemeanor the first three how do you play no contest count three unlawful restraint misdemeanor of the third degree how do you play no contest and count for unauthorized use of property and misdemeanor the first degree no contest and you are stipulating to a finding a fact is that correct that's correct judge we we would consent to the court making a finding a fact the court will make a finding a fact find that the defendant is a piece was a piece officer at the time of this incident and based on the reading of the facts the court will find the defendant guilty of count one attempted theft in office Miss firste also the court will make finding of guilty on count two simple assault Miss first degree based on the reading of the facts based on the reading of the facts the defendant will be found guilty at count three on Lo mror the third degree and count for unauthorized use of property mror the first degree the tenant will be found guilty based on the reading out of facts at this time the court will proceed with sentencing uh before the court sentences the defendant I'd like to hear from the defense councel thank you your honor Mr Oliver as I think everybody in this room knows uh served the township ship of Brimfield first as a police officer uh and later as a chief he served approximately 10 years as the chief of police uh as everyone knows Brimfield is a small town that has its own small town politics um I think politics have played a role in this case um and Mr Alver is at a point where he has decided that it would be in his best interest in the best interest of his family to resolve these matters with no contest please to misdemeanor offenses uh he's done that for both his sake and his family safe um I know that there are going to be statements made in this case uh by I think Miss Casterline I think as everyone's aware there is a civil suit that is ending that Miss Casterline has filed against both Mr Oliver and Brimfield Township uh there will be more litigation to come but uh Mr Oliver's motivation in resolving these is to attempt to achieve some closure for both himself and his family this has been an extremely rough time for them and I would indicate Mr oler has done a lot of good for the community some of that good is is a matter of public record U some of the charity work that he's done some of the proceeds from from his book that was referenced um there are some David oler supporters I suspect that a lot of people in this room today are not here to support him uh but Mr Oliver is uh certainly willing and wanting to move on with his life and his family's life and that was the motivation for these pleas today the attorney representing Mr Oliver Advocates on his behalf portraying him to be a beneficial member of society who has positively contributed to both the community and the police department despite the lawyers audacious claim that Oliver's actions were motivated by the need to safeguard his family it's important to remember that theft from the police department cannot be excused under any circumstances Mr Oliver would you like to make a brief [Music] statement your honor I was Chief uh for the brenfield police department for 10 years 10 months there was a collective bargaining contract in place for the entire time I was there there was never one grievance filed never one this year we entered into some pretty tense I'm sorry in 2014 we entered into some pretty intense contract negotiations where I requested pay cuts from the officers due to a 12% increase in Insurance the officers refused to take that that cut and and negotiations gotten pry tense nothing was said about any of this some of this information dates back to 2012 I mean I one qu and I'm not going to be long your honor but one question I would ask is if there was a foreign police officer who thought there was a crime that have been committed in 2012 why didn't you report it the secondary thing about this is I never heard anything about hostile work environment or assault or I will guarantee you that Crystal punched me as as much as I punched her that's that's the relationship we had her children spent the night with me and my family numerous times all the way up to September 2014 then we had the layoff notices came out and she was on the list and as soon as we worked out the contract and we sended the layoff notices 2 days later I got the hostile work environment charge and a threat from the union for a no confidence vote there is no way in the world that I could have brought this case to a jury with three or four police officers what they were going to testify and run the risk with the jury I I just couldn't do it so this whole thing befuddles me I I've never seen anything like it there are officers here today who used to work for me show that that have shown up just to grind it one that I fired I mean when you are the boss you don't make a lot of friends so Mr you you did stipulate to the facts in this matter I did the facts as they were written on paper by other [Music] officers and I want to stay with a no contest pleas I'm doing it with a clear mind anything else Mr Pierce you'd like to say on behalf of the def no thank [Music] you um I was thinking this morning about um how I was involved in shop with the cops in Brimfield and you were the head of that program and the little children were so happy they loved do the shop with cops and L going to Apple be I I'm thinking now how you let those little children down you've let the people Brimfield down you let your family down you let law enforcement down you become the mope that you wrote about in your book do you realize that I'm going to take the recommendations of the um Assistant Attorney General in sentencing the defendant with uh a Proviso of probation um just based on what she felt was appropriate and what uh the attorneys agreed to I hope this never happens again to anyone else I hope no one else comes forward that would be a huge shut down to everyone in law enforcement on the attempted theft in office mror of the first degree I'm going to sentence defendant to 180 days before each count jail on the simple assault misor the first degree I'm going to sentence the defendant to 180 days before each County Jail on the unlawful Restraint of misdemeanor of the third degree I am going to have sentenc the defendant to 60 days of Page County Jail on the unauthorized use of property Mr the first de I'm going to sentence the defendant to 180 days in jail those sentences will run concurrent to one another I'm also going to assess the defend of $1,000 fine in court cost I will suspend the balance of the jail and $700 of the fine on the following conditions first you will be placed on basic probation here in Page County for a period of 24 months second you will pay your court cost inlies within 24 months if you cannot pay I will allow you do community work service of up to 40 hours a week at $10 per hour till pay full your court costs are currently $21 so to work this off you to do around 42 Community work service hours you will pay restitution of $134 in 24 months through the adult probation department here in Page County to the victim Brimfield Police Department you will be Persona NADA at the gmvi police department and you will have absolutely no contact with so over directly or indirectly with the victim in this matter lastly you will surrender your op certificate under Section 10977 of the Ohio Revised Code so my understanding at this time you don't have the physical uh certificate but you are surrendering uh your right to be a police police officer in the state of Ohio you understand that sir yes ma'am so if you violate any of these terms or conditions I will impose the original jail sentence on each count to run consecutive to one another do you understand that yes ma'am anything else at this time Mr Pierce no thank you anything else tomorrow not from the state you'll need to go to the adult probation department today and sign up with the probation department thank you David Oliver repeatedly shook his head took long pauses and was clearly hesistant before he finally entered a plea of no contest to four of his misdemeanor charges including two connected to the mistreatment of the female officer Portage County Judge Lori Pitman sentenced him to 2 years of Probation and ordered the suspension of his law enforcement certification effectively prohibiting him from working as a police officer in Ohio ever again but the corruption misdemeanors and the act of misusing authority by the police don't end here next is the horrendous case of Daniel sailor your honor don't really know what to say I still believe what I said was the truth I'm a single father with with a daughter I'm Serv my country H state of Flor for many years and I find myself in this position now I don't know what we said you AR pleas have mercy on this is Daniel sailor age 58 a former windir police chief who was first arrested in January 2011 for covering up the rape case of his friend Mr Bush Daniel sailor pleaded no contest to official misconduct and served less than a year in jail however soon after sailor was charged with perjury for allegedly providing false testimony during his friend Bush's trial back in January 20111 I want to thank you again for your time and consideration of this case I also wish to tell you some special privileges enjoyed by jurors no juror can ever be required to talk about what happened in the Jury Room except by court order for many years we have relied upon jurors for consideration of difficult cases therefore the law gives you this unique privilege not to talk about your votes your discussions your deliberations for as long as you wish it you're now free to speak with anyone you'd like about this case you're also feel free to refuse to speak with anyone it's completely up to you individually with that you can follow the deputy out any legal reason we canot speak St are Asing I do have a score sheet if I could approach on you may defense do you wish to handle the VP at the same time yes cf11 518 Mr stor you're still under oath is it true that you were in fact on probation for four counts official misconduct official misconduct solicitation for official misconduct and tampering with evidence is that true yes ma' yes were you in fact placed on probation on June 30th 202 well yes ma'am finding that I will find that your mission is on on that particular issue and find that there is a violation as to violation of condition five and just for record purposes for purpose of the violation probation we object to the same evidentiary issues that we did in the trial understand thank you state argument yes your honor the defendant has been found guilty of perjury I know your honor heard the testimony over the course of the last day and a half um the state believes that one statutory aggravators factual aggravators in this case are the nature of the proceeding not only the fact that it was designated by the legislature as a capital case but that there were two young victims involved uh who did testify and as I stated it Clos an arguments I don't believe there's any other way to read mr's testimony other than his designed to impact their credibility before the jury thankfully the jury found Mr Bush guilty in that case to compound that you have the fact that he was in law enforcement for many years and as he admitted on the stand was very aware of his duty and oath to tell the truth not only as law enforcement officer but especially when testifying before this court uh and finally as just noted for the record he was on probation to boot when he um made these statements so I will leave it by saying that y knows that every day we do criminal cases in this courthouse and if people do not tell the truth then the system of justice we have will not work it's impossible Mr sailor knew that and regardless of that fact in all his years of experience he got on stand and told why um I'm not going to make a formal recommendation at to the years Shor has a score sheet in front of you you know when he scores um state would just ask that you want to way a testimony and evidence in this case and R appropriate sent thank you argument you honor don't really know what to say I still believe what I said was the truth I'm a single father with with a daughter I've served my country in the state of Flor for many years and I find myself in this position now I don't know what said pleas have mercy on me you just quickly um I have reviewed the score sheet we have no additionals or corrections to make to it I always think it's difficult your honor when there are witnesses who testify in court and cases like this would seem to stifle certain Witnesses from testifying in cases because of the ramifications of that test the court will call the evidence from the bush case in 2003 which was the basis of this statement there was no evidence that Natasha bush had have made any sort of allegation of the sexual abuse that didn't occur in 2009 I believe the state's position that somehow this affected whatever the outcome of the case when regards Natasha isn't true based on the fact that there was no such evidence back in few times I understand that Mr s was convicted here today he would ask the court to follow guidelines and sentence of Mr sailor and give him the concurrent sentence on violation probation cf13 390 the court will adjudicate you guilty as the jury B you to be guilty sentence you to 8 years departmental Corrections credit for 13 days that you served and cf11 51a as to the four accounts the court will will uh adjudicate you guilty will revoke ter your probation and each of those counts will sentence you to a 4-year Department of Correction sentence each count to run concurrently and each case to run concurrently that's credit for excuse me 15 days that you served all the statutory court cost fees cost of prosecution those amounts of money will be sent to collections Fort for you to start making payments within 180 days of your released from custody no less than $30 a month until it's paid off you have 30 days in which to appeal the judgment you cannot an attorney attorney will be appointed to represent you the a has to be writing in those 30 days do you understand that sir I don't understand how many years I got here onor 8 years total it's four years concurrent on the violation probation you as a credit for time the violation probation is my understand you had served a year in jail in that matter is that your understanding the date yes I believe the F was 52 weeks 51 weeks work release is my understanding and that should be 51 weeks and 15 days that's not showing thank you thank good luck you sir and Orange County jury set for Mr sailor's case took a considerable amount of time 1 hour and 15 minutes to be exact before reaching a verdict the nature of his offense left little room for doubt demanding a verdict that would serve as a firm example Mr sailor was sentenced to 8 years in prison and he was escorted to Orange County Jail to serve his time but if you think that it's the end to such horrendous cases then you're in for a surprise with the case of police chief Scott Gardner yeah it's it's it's been 2 years since I've been able to talk about this U and and I greatly do a I apologize first off for wasting the Court's time wasting the State of Ohio's time um it was never my intention to have this underreported and as as M Edward expressed as soon as I found out what was happening and the state makes the allegation of of why I did it after the subpoena well I didn't know there was anything wrong or going going on until I received the subpoena this is Scott Gardner aged 49 a former East Cleveland police chief who was indicted in August 2022 on various counts including theft in office telecommunications fraud and tampering with evidence in the summer of 2023 he was re-indicted and prosecutors added counts related to filing fraudulent tax returns money laundering and new theft offenses Mr gner is sorry for what happened he absolutely is remorseful this has been very very difficult for him he has asked me on a number of occasions what am I going to do I have to make sure that this never happens again like I you know it worries him he he doesn't want he doesn't want to engage in this sort of behavior he doesn't want to be seen as somebody who would steal from the state of Ohio Mr Gardner is a person that cares about others I can say that from my personal experiences with him I can say that from the way I see him interact with others he is is a very kind man he is generous he would help anybody with anything he really would it's just his nature I know I had said it before but just as generous as as Mr Gardner is with others in he would pay for things for others you saw that in the letters he would buy other people things if they needed them he put his own money into the department he put his own money into the fop and maybe maybe some of the money was that but Mr Gardner is not only did he do those things but he is trying to pay that back and he's paid a significant portion of that back and he will continue to make payments on that he's dedicated to doing that he's dedicated to taking care of his responsibilities and he cares about other people him attempting to be a cheat or a thief or anything of that nature is not his intentions it's it's really not Mr Gardner is a caring person and I think that he is going to now tell you how he got into this situation and he would like to apologize to the court and the state of Ohio your honor thank you um yeah it's it's it's been two years since I've been able to talk about this um and and I greatly do a I apologize first off for wasting the Court's time wasting the State of Ohio's time um it was never my intention to have this unreported and as as Miss hward expressed as soon as I found out what was happening and the state makes the allegation of of why I did it after the subpoena well I didn't know there was anything wrong or going going on until I received this opem I immediately took action I I fully acknowledged that that money is not my money the money was accepted as I've learned that I should not have accepted or kept um so I fully acknowledge that and I fully prepare you know since that time I've I've had certified public accountants uh filing my sales tax uh with the inter term of my CPA actually firing me because of this incident uh recently but um my my intention is to make certain that this does not occur again um this is not who I am this is not what I want my my perception to be uh for the remaining time and I I appreciate the the time your honor for me to be able to speak I want to be real clear Mr Gardner because I don't want you to have any um false impression about the impression that you've made on me this isn't just Reckless on your part I don't believe that for one minute not for one second do I believe that you're just a poor bookkeeper we're talking about a factor of over 10 you you paid 1,000 when you're supposed to pay 12,000 you paid 3,000 when you were supposed to pay 49,000 that's not an oops that's not a i i just a m sloy bookkeeper that's a person who essentially was and maybe Miss Miss uh Hibert is right when she said that says that you did good things with some of that money but you were essentially robbing from Peter to pay Paul and and I I don't buy the argument that it was just an oversight and as soon as it was brought to your attention you said oh my gosh let me correct this um I believe you believe that you could just do this get away with it nobody would notice um but for for the phenomenal investigative work done by the agents um who testified in this case I think you never would have paid this money um so I don't buy that argument I don't buy the sloppy bookkeeper argument um it just it doesn't fly I I'd listen to the testimony sometimes when cases aren't tried as judges it becomes difficult to assess what really happened because you you don't get to really hear uh the facts of the case U as much as you do do when there's a trial but here it was abundantly clear that you were you just were kind of running a scam I mean we're not going to get too deep into it because a lot of the counts were dismissed against you but there was an awful lot of testimony that I heard uh that that signaled a a guy who was willing to cut Corners um that's who you are I mean let's not kid ourselves right this is your third time in the courtroom or is it four third or fourth time third your honor all right so we we have two separate instances where you've been charged with this sort of behavior right the first time it happens you might say oh my God here I am a police officer I've been charged in Port County for misconduct revolving around um a cigar shop I own I say well you know I'm a fine police officer but I'm a bad cigar shop owner operator um I've got to do better then you get another case and you say oh my God I can't believe this happened again I I I've got to do better now a third time and we're supposed to write that off as just another oops that's that's nonsense I don't buy it not for one minute that's not to suggest that Miss Hibert is wrong when she says that there's good in you I'm certain that it's true um but but you were stealing to come in here and say something else um is somewhat offensive um in the end though what you play guilty to was a single fourth deegree felony with a presumption in favor of community control and as judges we're not just throwing darts at a spinning board and hoping that we hit the right sentence we use the guidance that we're given and this is a nonviolent offense you have no felony criminal history so this is your first felony conviction um I don't see that as a small matter um I see particularly someone who's spent their career in law enforcement uh having to carry around a felony conviction as a significant thing um so although I'm I'm in no way fooled by your story of the hapless business owner who just can't shoot straight I'm not going to overreact um and incarcerate you today um I don't believe that police officers um when they commit crimes that are really unrelated to their business ought to be treated more harshly than say a butcher a baker or a Candlestick maker you know the fact of the matter is um I I'm going to sentence you like I would anyone else charged with a lowlevel nonviolent felony of the fourth degree who has no prior felony criminal history so although I certainly appreciate why the government might be inclined to ask for prison here I think it would be an overreaction I think it's unfair to people who have committed their lives to law enforcement which is a real honor to be able to say that my job is to protect and serve the community uh I mean that's a real honor but I don't think that the payback for having committed yourself to a life in law enforcement is for judges to immediately send you to prison and apply some sort of police officer specification that means whenever a police officer commits a crime they have to go to prison when another person wouldn't I don't think that's appropriate um so I'm not going to incarcerate you even in the face of your foolish explanation as to why you did this you need to take some time while you're on probation um and and and do some soul searching and figure out what your life plan is going to be because cutting corners and running raggedy businesses where you steal from the state hasn't worked for you you're now convicted felon here's where it gets a little bit more interesting now that you are a convicted felon and you're about to be on probation to me for the next 5 years if I even get a whiff a sniff that you're cutting Corners out there in the world that you're running some kind of a business and maybe not doing the things that you're supposed to do that maybe you put a business in someone else's name and you're teaching them them how to cut these Corners if I find out about it you're going to prison do you understand me yes is there anything unclear about that no you're right you're going to have to pay this restitution you will be responsible for what it $149,000 $149,950 4.50 um that restitution will be a condition of your community control if I sent you to prison it would make it more difficult for you to repay that debt um so that's one of the other benefits of you being able to be in the community and in addition to that um you know it's also not lost on me that that you tarnish the badge when you do this now you didn't do it relative to your work as a police officer right this wasn't something that that that you used your role as a police officer um to sort of get away with the crime um but look let's let's be clear the reason why all these cameras are pointed at you is because you're a police officer not just police officer but chief of police who has fallen this far it stains the badge it blemishes the bad you you going to have a consequence that's tangible not just the intangible um consequence of a felony conviction uh you're going to give back to the community uh this went on for many years um going back to 2014 our window is a is a 6year window um so with that in mind you're going to do 600 100 hours of community service 100 hours for every year that you engaged in this scam and that's what it was it was a scam I don't again I don't be repetitive but the slobby book keeper story is not believable for a guy that's been in court on two separate occasions for similar conduct so for each year you engaged in in this um scam you'll do 100 hours of community service uh I would certainly uh um I I would never over any point in that 5 years your own probation to me I'd never forget that I I I'm giving you a chance that your judge gave you a chance right but that's all it is if it turns out that Miss soul and and the state of Ohio is right and you just don't have it in you to do good then you'll make a mistake over these 5 years and you'll end up going to prison on the other hand I hope that just like me on some level the state of Ohio is rooting for you to do well right the goal of this is to see people not recidiviz the goal of this is to correct behavior and there ought to be punishment the punishment is a $600 hour of community service but but the hope is that over the course of the next 5 years um even if it's only out of fear um the state of Ohio won't have to worry about you stealing from the state anymore uh because of that that heightened anxiety that your your freedom is at stake do you understand yes sir uh normally it's the course of inclination um to to create incentives uh for people to do well on community control uh and so I I always look for ways to consider terminating Community Control early so I would commonly put people on maybe 5 years of community control but I'll say look if you can show me a year of sobriety um 12 straight months will terminate your probation but I want you to understand I'm not going to do that in this case I want there to be some certainty that you're being supervised for as long a period of time as I possibly can so that's the that's the uh maybe the one dis similarity to the way I'm treating you and I might someone else um I want you to be supervised for as long as the law allows me to do it and that's the five years uh so while you're on uh Community Control you'll report monthly uh you'll be drug tested um you will have to maintain verifiable employment um you are um you are on a habitual offenders list so you can't um operate a business in the state of Ohio you'll have to have some sort of verifiable employment um I I'll I'll give you some flexibility there because I understand that you are retired but but there's going to have to be some work you'll have to show that you're doing some work in addition to just a community service um as I indicated you will be drug tested um I don't know if there's a drug issue here maybe there's not um none whatsoever you're that's that's fine I'm happy to hear that um but but on the off chance that there should come a time uh where you test positive for an illegal substance I want you to understand I'm not going to incarcerate you for that uh we'll just we'll talk more and we'll figure out a way to help you if there is a drug issue that that uh that that should arise um and to that uh to that end I want you to be forthcoming with our probation department if there are issues that you have that maybe haven't been addressed in open court uh maybe they're too private uh to discuss an open court discuss them with your probation officer develop a relationship with the probation officer so that you can speak with that person we have a fantastic probation department uh bless you um I I I I certainly hope that you're able to pay this money back um I don't want you to think that just because um maybe on some level I've had some harsh words for you Mr Gardner um that that I want to see you do poorly uh to the contrary My Hope Is that this sentence uh will have the net effect of you doing well and extricating yourself from the system and never having to uh to to go through this again do you understand yes your honor uh Miss Soul anything else on behalf of the state no your honor we would just ask the journal entry to reflect the restitution amount it will be in the journal tree thank you Hebert nothing thank youor we all rise in March 2024 Mr Gardner pleaded guil to one of the tax related charges in a plea deal that dropped the other 23 counts against him between 2014 and 2019 Gardner failed to pay more than $23,000 in state sales taxes from his private security business according to kyoga County assistant prosecutor Samantha Soul Gardner was placed on probation for failing to pay taxes in two other cases in 2014 the same time he started failing to pay his taxes in this case considering all the offenses Mr Gardener was sentenced to 5 years of Probation and 600 hours of community service for tax charge it is astonishing to see cops committing such heinous crimes but at least some of them are on camera getting their deserved punishment if you enjoyed this video be sure to leave a like And subscribe until next time