The FBI's Paterson police corruption case remains at a COVID standstill. What comes next?

PATERSON — One by one, in a series of court confessions that stretched out over 10 months, five rogue Paterson cops admitted they were part of a conspiracy involving illegal traffic stops, shakedown robberies and assaults on civilians.

The last of those guilty pleas came on Oct. 1, 2019. But none of the five convicted and fired police officers has gone to prison. That’s because federal authorities are counting on their testimony in the pending criminal charges against their supervisor, Sgt. Michael Cheff, said the private lawyers involved in the case.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Cheff’s indictment on charges that he conspired with the convicted cops to violate people’s civil rights and filed a false police report. The COVID-19 pandemic hit New Jersey right after Cheff’s indictment, shutting down the federal court system and bringing the FBI’s Paterson police corruption case to a standstill.

Cheff’s lawyer, John D. Lynch of Union City, has said his client is innocent and plans to take the case to trial to try to prove that. Cheff has been on paid administrative leave since the indictment and has continued to collect city paychecks on his $136,960 annual salary. The city’s police contracts require Paterson to keep paying the accused until criminal charges against them are resolved.

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Meanwhile, Cheff’s alleged co-conspirators all were fired by the city after pleading guilty. Their lawyers say they have been navigating life in legal limbo, released on federal supervision that allows them to get new jobs and spend time with their wives and children as the almost-inevitable prison time looms in their futures.

Prolonged agony — or welcome respite?

Has the delay prolonged the agony or provided a welcome respite for those five former cops?

“I guess it’s a double-edged sword,” said Michael Calabro, the attorney representing former Paterson cop Daniel Pent, convicted of federal civil rights crimes for using excessive force in encounters with the public and being involved in shakedowns, including one in which he and another officer stole $10,000.

“He’s happy he’s out, but eventually, he has to face this,” Calabro said.

Lawyers for two of the other convicted officers — Eudy Ramos and Matthew Torres — said their clients already have begun to straighten out their lives as they await their sentencing.

“He’s dealing with it well,” said Ramos’ lawyer, Miles Feinstein. “He’s proven himself; he’s showed that he can go back to being an excellent citizen, an excellent parent, an excellent husband and an excellent friend.

“That’s the mark of a man,” Feinstein added. “He didn’t give up. He’s not feeling sorry for himself.”

Torres’ lawyer, John Whipple, said he plans to highlight the positive life changes he said his client has made when he eventually comes up for sentencing.

“I’ll be able to stand at his side and strongly argue that this is a rehabilitated young man,” Whipple said. “He’s lived with this cloud over his head for months and months and months and months. That’s punishment in itself.”

The other two convicted cops awaiting sentencing are Jonathan Bustios and Frank Toledo.

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'What kind of accountability is that?'

Paterson Black Lives Matter activist Zellie Thomas said he was shocked that the five convicted officers have not gone to prison yet, noting that it’s been almost two years since they admitted their guilt.

“I think most people think they are in jail,” said Thomas, who works as a Paterson schoolteacher.

The FBI probes resulted in convictions of two other Paterson officers. Ruben McAusland admitted dealing drugs while on duty and assaulting a suicide patient at the hospital and is serving his 66-month sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania, with his release scheduled for January 2024.

Roger Then, who recorded the hospital attack on his cellphone, already has completed his six-month sentence and was released in January 2020, according to federal prison records.

Thomas said the fact that Then already has gained his freedom sends a bad message for a Police Department trying to gain the public’s trust.

“If he’s out already, what kind of accountability is that?" Thomas asked.

It remains unclear exactly when the police corruption case will be resolved. In-person federal court proceedings have been suspended through March 13 because of the coronavirus crisis, and lawyers in the case say that’s likely to be extended.

Federal authorities have not set any dates for the sentencings of the five convicted officers. There is no time limit on how soon after a federal conviction a sentencing must take place, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in Newark.

Cheff was hired by the Paterson Police Department in January 1996 and reached a critical retirement milestone during the paid leave after his indictment — 25 years of service, the threshold at which retirees get full health benefits and 65% of their salaries as pension.

Lynch, Cheff’s lawyer, said his client is working at another job during the delay in the court proceedings.

“It’s been a drain on him and his family,” Lynch said. “Mentally, it’s been a drain.”

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com