entitled cops often believe they're above the law but what happens when they face the power of the Court here are four times when entitled cops got humbled by Court Authority office under rc29 2141 A1 Fel the fourth degree the court is going to impose a prison sentence of one year this is former officer Charles reer from The Pike County Sheriff's Office in March 2021 officer reader is in the court attending his sentencing in a case where he has been charged of theft and pampering with Evidence Officer reader allegedly stole $5,000 from the office which was confiscated by the cops from other cases it is said that he had used this money in gambling officer reader had pleaded guilty to both the charges of theft and tampering with evidence he expects a maximum of eight years in prison when he appears before the judge he is now facing the court where he is about to get humbled by the judge watch how the sentencing unfolds 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 so 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 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 wanted to 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 and I would think as I said if you committed a 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 counsel yes but that that's that's again uh in terms of the the stress over this case which is called caused I'm sure Untold trauma for you and your family it's always the unintended innocent victims the families that actually suffer the most from one's uh criminal misconduct all right all right as I said each case is different um I have sentenced a number of public officials across the state um so I'm trying uh in trying to determine a Comm measure sentence which I am required to do under Ohio law uh this court sentenced uh Patrick Kelly the former Athens County Sheriff two seven years in prison he was uh convicted of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity which is different that count was here but through a plea bargain that was dismissed he also pled guilty to 10 counts of theft in office one count of tampering with evidence and one count of tampering with records I also sentenced the sanduski county sheriff Kyle overmy I gave him a sentence of four years in prison he was charged on three counts of theft in office three counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug two counts of tampering with government records uh the court sentenced him due four years in prison I also sentenced detective Shan oconnell of the sanduski sheriff's office he was charged with one count of tampering with EV evence and F3 and the court imposed a 2-year prison sentence uh in that case I also want to uh deal with the issue of merger uh before I go further here both uh sides have correctly cited to State versus rough Ruff 143 Ohio State third 1114 205 Ohio 995 office under rc29 2141 A1 a felony the fourth degree the court is going to impose a prison sentence of one year on count three which is also a theft in office count same section as the court just read that's also felony the fourth degree the Court's going to oppose a one-year uh prison sentence uh in that case uh as well tampering with evidence count 4 29 2112 a two I think um Fel need is a third degree um the court is going to sentence you to two years in prison on that count count six tampering with evidence the court is going to uh also sentence you to two years on that tampering with evidence charge and for the remaining count of conflict of interest and M1 the court is going to impose six months in the Summit County jail now the court believes that some punishment is appropriate for what you have done uh in terms of tarnishing the name not just of yourself and your family but of all law enforcement and the deterrent effect is something I take very very seriously I also take into consideration what defense counsel and the witnesses have said also as I said no person is either all good or all bad in reference to the uh charges count two and count three uh theft in office the court had handed out a one-year prison sentence on that on those counts even though they don't emerge as a matter of law the court is going to order that those oneyear sentences run concurrently with one another in reference to tampering with evidence uh as contained in count 4 and tampering with evidence in count six the court is going to impose a two-year sentence on each of those two counts to run concurrently with one another but consecutively to the one-year sentence for a total prison sentence of 3 years Court's going and on the misdemeanor conflict of interest I'm going to oppose a six-month sentence in the Pike County Jail to run concurrently with that sentence the court is going to impose after three years of discretionary uh Post Release Control now the court has given you consecutive sentences I'm going to site to Revis code section 29 2914 C4 four multiple prison terms are imposed on an offender for convictions of multiple offenses the court may require the offender to serve a prison term consecutively if the court finds the consecutive sentence is necessary to protect the public from future crime or to punish the offender and the consecutive sentences are not disproportionate to the seriousness of the offender's conduct and the danger the offender poses to the public and then it goes on to say under subsection CB uh the court finds in this case that at least two of the multiple offenses were committed as part of one or more criminal uh pattern of criminal conduct and the harm caused by two or more of these offenses are so great or unusual that no single prison term for any offense committed as part of the course of conduct adequately ref reflects the seriousness of the offender's conduct it cannot be underestimated the damage that you have caused to the citizens of Pike County to law enforcement who every day get up face the same sort of stresses that you do they they go all home at night uh they get up in the morning their family they don't know if they're going to come home the sacrifices that these men and women make um I think you've made a mockery of them I could have imposed a much greater sentence than than I have as I said I've take into consideration some of the mitigating factors but punishment is appropriate to sentence you to I consider the minimum however to sentence you to anything um less than three years in prison would demean the seriousness of the offense and not adequately protect Society from future criminal conduct by yourself and others you have the right to appeal uh the Court's judgment and sentence in this case Mr reader if you do not have the funds to file a notice of appeal uh the court will provide those funds to you if you cannot afford counsel to represent you on appeal the court will provide counsel to you if you cannot afford the documents or the transcript the uh Court will also will provide that to you and I will appoint an attorney if necessary uh to uh file a notice of appeal within 30 days uh Mr Bulger have you talked to your client about whether or not you are going to represent him in the event of an appeal um uh no your honor we have not uh I didn't think that um such a discussion would have been useful until sentencing pronounced well if you are the uh you need to notify the court immediately if you're going to stay on the case for pures the appeal if he is Indigent as I said the court will uh will Court will appoint an attorney and I will furnish the transcript and the records uh if need be uh in the event you do uh represent him for purposes of appeal I would instruct you Mr Boulder to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of this sentence all right does the state have anything else you want to add nothing for does defense have anything you want to add your honor uh in our last telephone conference there was uh some uh discussion of the uh situation that uh Sheriff Charle Greer's uh father is in uh there does seem to be uh a confirmation of the representations that I made in the telephone uh conference uh concerning the severity of his condition would the court uh consider uh giving us a report date he guiling on was it last year September 20th I believe September 20th yes all right I I have thought about this if your father was on life support and some doctor and I and I mentioned this if some doctor had written a note saying that he was on death's doorstep so to speak I might consider that but that's not the situation and as I said every action in life has a reaction and it's normally the family of the defendant who suffers the most uh under Ohio law a warden in a prison has the ability to Grant a Furlow under certain circumstances if those circumstances should arise in the future then you can um you can notify the a warden of the institution you're in and at that point in time he can he or she can consider the subject of Furlow all right that concludes these proceedings didn't say that the judge had questioned him about the reason for stealing that money officer reader explained that he took that money just because he wanted to support some local charities however the judge did not take this response as valid since officer reader gambling debt has grown significantly ever since officer reader was sentenced to a total of 6.5 years in prison however due to some counts will run concurrently he would have to spend only 3 years in jail if you think this was the only cop who got humbled by Court Authority wait until you watch this next case do you have a place for me here Lord and need can be so Grand I never expected to have too much but if you don't I understand there was silence all around the throne where the Saints have often tried there a policeman with this is former Officer William Melendez from the iner police department on February 2nd 2016 officer Melendez was facing the court due to his being on a trial for a traffic stop that went wrong he was on trial for assaulting a motorist named Floyd Dent who was darkskinned while pulling him over just like in a rou traffic stop Mr Dent was held to the ground while officer Melendez was observed beating him on his head after this incident he was immediately fired from the Inkster police department the judge took no excuses for officer Melendez punching Mr Dent 16 times I know I don't deserve a place among the people here they never wanted me around except to Cal their fears if you have a place for me here Lord and even be so Grand and never expected to have too much but if you don't I understand there was silence all around the throne where the Saints have often tried as a policeman waited quietly for the Judgment of his guy step forward now policeman you w your burdens well come walk could be on my heaven streets you've done your time in Hell your honor thank you I submit to your judgment thank you so much judges by definition are impartial decision makers in the pursuit of Justice they are to examine both sides and fashion punishment that is proportionate to what is morally acceptable to all the parties involved the victim the public and the defendant I'm gonna start out with Mr Dent the victim involved in this tragedy is a 58y old black man who was driving his Cadillac in iner a suburb of Detroit on the evening of January 28th 2015 where his life changed forever he was stopped by the defendant a then iner police officer and his and his partner officer zanusi Mr Dent was stopped for a minor traffic offense and ordered out his vehicle with His Hands Extended out of his driver's window he was grabbed out thrown to the ground and struck 16 times in the head by the defendant in his attempt to arrest him and he was thrown onto a window shield of a patrol car bleeding profusely from a head injury the responding police officers arrived as the defendant is wrestling the defendant to the ground Mr Dent was struck kicked and tazed while on the ground by what appeared to be a group of angry anxious police officers that celebrated after the defendant was beaten and cuffed the video in the car shows the police officer's fist bumping as a celebratory Act of Bravery by the defendant and his cohorts but the one image that um that struck out to the court was looking at Mr dent in his sale shaking his head in disbelief of what had occurred to him if his conduct was indicative of what he was thinking I would have thought this what crime did I commit being a black man in the Cadillac stopped for a minor traffic offense by a group of racist police officers looking to do a n as police officer John zanusi auxiliary police officer testified in court to in his response to a text was quoted as saying at least give me the satisfaction of knowing that you're out there beating up right now LOL how humiliating and degrading that must have been he was left in a Cale for a number of hours before getting medical treatment but after hearing the defendant and his fellow's officers joke about about his injuries as it were wiping blood off their uniforms with disinfectant 2015 please be quiet in my courtroom how does this happen I'mma tell you how it happened some years ago 19 to be little 25 to be exact I remember coming into this building with such enthusiasm so excited you caused your lovely wife heartache and you caused Mr Dent severe anguish and finally in the words of Vicky Yost your commander accountability is required to ensure continued community trust and healing today I can only punish your conduct conduct but only you and God can change your character I've had an opportunity to listen to both sides and I had to say this because I didn't say this during the trial but it was my privilege to be able to oversee this trial because I had great lawyers and great lawyers make jobs real easy at this time I am going to commit you to the Michigan Department of Corrections however after weighing the allegations in this particular matter and looking at all the circumstances including what you've done and who the person I really believe that you are I'm going to commit you to the Michigan Department of Corrections as to count one for no less than 13 months no more than 10 years as to count to I'm going to give you 90 days credit uh for time serve and close it out court is going to give you 85 days for credit you have 42 days to P my decision that includes this matter thank you the defense highlights officer melendez's years of dedicated service and numerous commendations presenting the incident as a split-second decision rather than a deliberate attack they emphasize that officer Melendez has already faced significant consequences including job loss financial hardship and damage to his reputation they also recount the struggles his family endured particularly his wife who was injured in the line of duty ultimately he received a sentence of 13 months to 10 years in prison by the judge if you think that this was the maximum cops can get humbled then you probably aren't aware of this next case of former officer Raja if you find a defendant guilty of attempted first agree murder you must next answer the following questions did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually possessed a firearm yes did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually discharged a firearm yes did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant in discharging the firearm actually caused Great bodily harm or death to Cory L Jones yes so say we all this sth day of March 2019 in West Palm Beach Palm Beach County Florida signed jury for person this is former officer Newman Raja from the Palm Beach Garden Police Department Officer Raja was at the court about to be sentenced in a case where he was involved in the killing of an innocent motorist named Corey Jones officer Raja in plain close drove an unmarked van the wrong way up a highway off ramp Before Dawn St stopping just feet from Mr Jones's stalled SUV according to the prosecutor officer Raja never identified himself as a police officer and acted so aggressively that Mr Jones likely thought he was facing a carjacking or deadly threat Mr Jones a housing inspector in part-time drummer had been returning home from a nightclub gig when his vehicle broke down days earlier he had purchased a 38 caliber handgun to protect his $10,000 drum set in the SUV officer Raja fired three initial shots prompting Jones to flee down an embankment prosecutors state that Mr Jones threw his gun later found 125 ft from his body but officer Raja fired three more shots 10 seconds after the first round Mr Jones was fatally struck by a bullet to the heart watch how the sentencing goes everybody have a seat good morning to everybody at this juncture are both sides ready I believe we have a verdict yes sir okay ladies and gentlemen I wish to thank you for your time and consideration of this case I also wish to advise you of some very special privileges enjoyed by jurors we the jury find as follows as to count one we find it offended guilty of manslaughter while armed with the firearm as charging the information as to count two we found a defendant guilty of attempted first-degree murder as charged in the information if you find a defendant guilty of attempted first-degree murder you must next answer the following questions did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually possessed a firearm yes did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually discharged a firearm yes did the state prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant in discharging the firearm actually caused Great bodily harm or death to Cory L Jones yes so say we all the sth day of March 2019 in West Palm Beach Palm Beach County Florida Sign jury for person polar jury jur jury number one where the verdicts is read your verdict jury number two where the verdicts is read your verdicts yes jury number three where the verdicts is read your verdicts yes jur number four where the verdicts is read your verdicts yes jur number five with where the verdicts is read your verdicts yes jur number six where the verdict read your vers yes thank you very much you're excused all right so um State what are your April Friday April 26 that's the 45 day Mark yes sir okay that'll be sentencing 1:30 in the afternoon and in between I'll leave it to the lawyers to contact my office to set up whatever hearings need to be conducted uh regarding post-t trial motions anything else I need to do this morning so I I revoke any bond he's held no bond I'll be adjudicating but I'll be keeping the post-trial motions officer Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the judge he was convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder in the fatal shooting of the stranded darkskinned motorist marking the first time in 30 years that an officer in the state was held criminally accountable for an on duty shooting if you think this was the last cop who got humbled by Court Authority then you probably haven't heard of this next case get up get up get on your feet you don't turn on me [Music] te get on your feet get on your feet where's the table I can't move get on your feet oh man get on your this is Officer Brady lener from the Denver Department of Public Safety Anthony Waller experienced a disturbing incident during his first advisement Hearing in Denver Colorado accused of several crimes including false imp imprisonment and assault at a motel Mr Waller appeared fully Shackled In Handcuffs leg irons and a belly chain before the judge when Mr Waller requested clarification on certain points officer Brady lenier placed a hand on his back reportedly to guide him toward the clerk to sign the paperwork uncomfortable with the physical contact Mr Waller turned to officer lvenger and asked why he was doing that suddenly officer lener grabbed him by the belly chain and forcefully slammed him face first into a metal window frame as Mr Waller was dragged into the hallway he cried out saying he was injured the assault left him with a head wound and broken teeth false imprisonment assault uh in the third degree assault as a Class 2 felony and a misdemeanor charge uh as well in possession of drug thank you sir ah yes now I'd like to object if I'm under investigation I thought the investigation first then the rescue right but they they have [Music] three don't turn on me get on your feet get on your feet where's the Tas I can't move get on your feet get on your feet the sheriff will have this