The former Florida police chief who literally turned black people into statistics—framing them to juke his burglary record—has been sentenced to three years in prison by a federal judge.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Raimundo Atesiano to 36 months in prison for conspiracy of depriving multiple people of their civil rights.
Atesiano had encouraged his officers to pin unsolved burglaries on any African American with “somewhat of a record” in order to keep his record perfect. This resulted in a 16-year-old boy being falsely charged, as well as a Haitian man who was illegally jailed and ultimately deported—all in order for Atesiano to keep his little gold star on his record as police chief. Maybe he’ll get a gold star for attendance in prison.
According to the Miami Herald, Raimundo Atesiano said to Moore on Tuesday, “When I took the job, I was not prepared…I made some very, very bad decisions.”
I don’t know, fella. There’s unprepared and then there’s bold enough to act outside the law, draw even more attention to yourself with a “perfect” record, and condemn innocent teenagers. You were ready to do something—just not your fucking job.
From the Herald:
In September, Atesiano pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of depriving the three suspects of their civil rights because he and the officers charged them without a legal basis. Atesiano’s conspiracy conviction carried up to 10 years in prison.
This followed guilty pleas from officers under Atesiano in August. Given the amount of illegal, racist and otherwise unethical activity that was reportedly happening under Atesiano’s watch, these officers have likely gotten off very, very easy. I hope they enjoy jail as much as they enjoy throwing people in it for no good reason.