TRENTON — A former Newark police officer convicted in May of conspiring with other officers to steal cash, drugs and weapons from suspected drug dealers was sentenced today to three years probation.

Darius Smith, 41, was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and was barred from any future public employment in New Jersey.

Smith gave little reaction as Superior Court Judge Peter Ryan in Newark announced the sentence, which had been anticipated since the jury’s guilty verdict in May. The state Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.

The jury had found Smith guilty of second-degree conspiracy along with official misconduct and theft offenses, but because it also determined the amount Smith stole was less than $200, the judge agreed he should be sentenced on a third-degree offense.

In court today, Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Vazquez requested Smith receive up to 364 days in the county jail, saying he "took advantage of the most vulnerable population." Afterward, she told the judge the state would appeal the sentence.

Smith, who has maintained his innocence, declined to address the court, though Ryan acknowledged having received 10 letters from people who "attested to his character." But Ryan also said Smith’s offense "constituted a violation of the public trust."

Smith’s attorney, Raymond Beam, disputed Vazquez’s characterization of drug dealers as among the most vulnerable. He also chided the state for accepting testimony against his client at trial from a convicted criminal who, Beam said, had failed a polygraph test about allegations Smith stole from him. Beam said his client would appeal the conviction.

Smith, a Newark resident and 11-year veteran police officer before he was indicted in 2004, had no prior convictions. Had he been sentenced on the second-degree crime, the father three who now works in construction, faced up to 10 years in prison.

Smith has since been terminated from the force and his case will now be referred to the State Police and Firemen’s Retirement Board for action regarding his pension, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Smith’s indictment charged that from April 2003 to March 2004, he and other Newark officers engaged in a conspiracy to "shake down" criminal suspects. The case was part of a larger investigation that yielded similar allegations of corruption against a half-dozen Newark officers.

One of them was Lawrence Furlow, Smith’s former partner on the force who faced identical criminal charges. The state tried Furlow twice, both times ending in hung juries. In June, as the third trial neared, the office announced it had dropped its case against Furlow.

Star-Ledger staff writer Christopher Baxter contributed to this report.

Follow @NJ_News

Related coverage:

• Ex-Newark police officer convicted of corruption, but may avoid jail time

• Newark police officer accused of shaking down drug dealers faces retrial