Guillermo Ravelo. Photo: CNN screenshot
After pleading guilty to framing innocent black men and punching a handcuffed suspect in the face, a third Florida police officer was sentenced Thursday to 27 months in prison for conspiracy to deprive a person of his civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law. Two other officers have been sentenced to one year in federal prison, while their former police chief awaits sentencing next month.
On January 23, 2013 and February 26, 2014, at the direction of then-Biscayne Park Police Department Chief Raimundo Atesiano, Officer Guillermo Ravelo falsely arrested two black men for a series of unsolved burglaries without any probable cause. In a separate incident, on April 7, 2013, Ravelo arrived at a traffic stop to provide backup before using unreasonable force by punching a handcuffed suspect in the face.
On June 13, 2013, Chief Atesiano ordered officers Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez to unlawfully arrest and falsely charge a 16-year-old juvenile identified only as “T.D.” With no evidence to charge T.D. for another series of unsolved burglaries, Fernandez fabricated information in the arrest affidavits, while Dayoub signed the affidavits and supported the false claims.
“These officers conspired to falsely arrest individuals in the name of providing deceptive clearance statistics for the benefit of Chief Atesiano,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “Chief Atesiano and these officers abused their authority and the Department will continue to ensure officers such as these are held accountable.”
“Officers who use excessive force and make false arrests maliciously cause harm to their victims and scourge our justice system,” stated U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan. “With great power, comes great responsibility. Through aggressive federal prosecutions, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida will continue to guard the invaluable civil rights of every member of our community and hold those accountable who violate our constitutional protections.”
“These three police officers from Biscayne Park disgraced themselves and damaged the public’s trust in law enforcement. Their actions are inexcusable and are not representative of the law enforcement professionals who serve us selflessly,” noted Robert Lasky, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami.
“Honesty and integrity are the core values of every effective police officer,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Former Biscayne Park Police Officers Guillermo Ravelo, Charlie Dayoub, and Raul Fernandez undermined their essential task of protecting the community, in some instances by using excessive force and in others, by conspiring to deprive suspects of their civil rights so as to produce bogus arrests. This absolute abuse of power by all three officers violated every aspect of the oath Ravelo, Dayoub, and Fernandez took the day they became police officers.”
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