A former Miami police officer has pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion, according to a recent plea deal.
Jerry Sutherland, 28, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, was a former officer with the City of Miami Police Department when he committed the crimes.
As admitted in Sutherland’s factual proffer in support of his plea of guilty, he managed a football team in his spare time and requested that a vendor paint the football team’s helmets free of charge.
However, Sutherland began to demand additional services from the vendor without payment, and when the vendor balked at these demands, Sutherland intimated that he would shut down an alleged illegal gambling operation if his demands were not met.
Sutherland represented to the vendor that he would provide the vendor with information about impending surveillance and other operations by the MPD in the area of the gambling operation so that the vendor could pass on that information to the owners and operators of the gambling operation.
Sutherland received a total of $3,400 in bribe payments from the vendor, many of which he received while he was in uniform.
The payments were made in exchange for Sutherland’s promise to provide protection for a gambling operation located in Miami-Dade County, arrange for the dismissal of a criminal court case against an employee of the illegal gambling operation, and increase the visibility of police around a rival gambling location.
Sutherland is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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