Back in October, after a lengthy undercover operation, the FBI arrested eight current and former NYPD officers (along with four others) and charged them with crimes ranging from gun trafficking to conspiracy to smuggle cigarettes. In the last week four of those cops pleaded guilty in federal court, bringing the total guilty pleas so far to nine—six of whom were current or former members of the NYPD.
"These police officers moonlighted as criminals, and even planned to use their badges to cover their illegal activity," US attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement after three more pleas came in yesterday. The pleas went like this:
Gary Ortiz, 28, who was an active-duty officer in the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to one count of conspiracy to transport firearms between states and one count of conspiracy to transport and receive stolen merchandise. Joseph Trischitta, 42, who worked in the 68th Precinct in Brooklyn during part of the plot, pleaded guilty to the same charges. John Mahoney, 27, also from the 68th Precinct, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport and receive stolen merchandise. Richard Melnik, 43, who pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to transport and receive stolen merchandise, was a retired officer from the 68th Precinct.
In addition to those four cops, Staten Islander Michael Gee, 50, yesterday pled guilty on a count of conspiracy to sell a firearm to an out-of-state resident and on a count of conspiracy to transport stolen merchandise.
According to court documents the group helped smuggle everything from three M-16 rifles to 16 handguns to goods the they believed to be stolen, like cartons of smokes and slot machines. The total street value of the goods is estimated to be about $1 million.
Three weeks ago the group's ring leader, William Masso (an officer at the 68th Precinct) admitted to all four conspiracy counts against him on February 6.
