Eighth Paterson cop arrested in FBI corruption probe, sources say

PATERSON — After three city police officers arrested someone at a housing project in 2017, their sergeant arrived on the scene, illegally searched the suspect’s apartment and allegedly stole money and drugs from a safe, according to federal law enforcement officials.

The suspect had claimed there was $2,700 inside the safe, authorities said.

The officers were upset by their sergeant’s actions — not because he allegedly took the money, but because they felt he had kept too much of the cash for himself after giving them their shares, according to text messages exchanged among the rogue cops.

“Thought there should have been something more,” said one of the cops, identified by federal officials as Confidential Witness #4. “… he beat us all.”

“He low key pulled rank,” wrote another cop, identified as Confidential Witness #1.

Federal authorities released portions of the text message exchanges on Tuesday as they announced the arrest of the sergeant, Michael Cheff, who became the eighth Paterson police officer arrested in an FBI corruption probe that started more than three years ago. Cheff, 49, was charged with conspiracy to deprive someone of civil rights and filing false reports.

After an initial appearance in federal court in Newark, Cheff was released on $100,000 bail. His attorney, John Lynch, declined to comment.

The seven other cops charged in the case already have pleaded guilty — including the three who allegedly participated with Cheff in the Nov. 14, 2017, safe robbery. Those three and one other convicted officer have provided authorities with information in Cheff’s case in hopes of getting lesser prison sentences, the United States Attorney’s Office said.

"We have zero tolerance for crooked cops in the Paterson Police Department," Mayor Andre Sayegh said, referring to Cheff's arrest. "This should serve as a cautionary tale that crime doesn't pay, especially in law enforcement."

The FBI probe started in late 2016 after city police officials alerted federal authorities to allegations of wrongdoing by several Paterson cops. The first arrests took place in April 2018. Authorities have not revealed whether any other officers — beyond the eight already named in the case — are under investigation.

“This is part of the ongoing investigation discovered by the Paterson police internal affairs,” said Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale. “This is not indicative of the hardworking men and women that serve with integrity daily."

Cheff, who has been on the job since 1996 and was promoted to sergeant in 2013, has been suspended without pay from his $134,678 city job, officials said. The unpaid suspension will continue for up 30 days, after which time Cheff would resume getting his salary, as required by Paterson’s police union contracts, officials said. The city is seeking to terminate Cheff as soon as possible, officials said.

Federal authorities allege that Cheff routinely took a share of the ill-gotten money stolen by patrol officers he supervised, cash that came from people who were illegally stopped and searched by the rogue cops.

Authorities also allege that at one point Cheff advised one of the cops he supervised to start turning in some of the money they were taking from suspects as evidence “because effecting narcotics arrests without logging money into evidence would otherwise raise questions.”

Cheff allegedly took his own advice in the incident involving the cash taken from the safe, according to the criminal complaint against him. Cheff submitted some of the drugs and $319 dollars in cash as evidence, but split the rest with the other crooked cops, authorities said.

In their reports, the officers never mentioned the safe inside the apartment, authorities said. Instead, the reports said the officers found the cash on a shelf inside the suspect’s room, authorities said.

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After returning to police headquarters from the apartment, Cheff allegedly gave $200 from the safe to the officer identified as Confidential Witness #1, federal officials said. Inside a bathroom at headquarters, the sergeant also gave an unspecified amount of money to Confidential Witness #4.

The three patrol officers also took $200 from the suspect’s coat and split that among themselves, authorities said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not reveal the identities of the confidential witness, other than to say they are among the cops already convicted in the case.

The five rogue officers who already have admitted participating in illegal shakedowns are Jonathan Bustios, Daniel Pent, Eudy Ramos, Frank Toledo and Matthew Torres. They are scheduled for sentencing in federal court in Newark at the end of this month, but officials said those proceedings may be delayed because of the Cheff case.

Among the text messages released on Tuesday was one by Confidential Witness #3 that seemingly referred to the crimes that eventually would lead to their convictions.

“Everybody’s car is getting searched and everyone is getting asked if we can search their car,” reads the message. “And threaten to lock up their momma if they don’t let us search their house lmao.”

Two of the convicted cops — Ruben McAusland and Roger Then — pleaded guilty to crimes separate from the illegal shakedowns and were sentenced to prison last year.

McAusland, who admitted selling drugs while on duty and assaulting a hospital suicide patient, received a 66-month prison term. Then, who admitted taking a video recording of McAusland's attack on the hospital patient, was sentenced to six months in prison and currently is in a reentry program and scheduled for release next Monday.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com