FL Police Chief-Conspiracy to Deprive Persons of Civil Rights by Ordering Officers to Make False Arrests Southern District of Florida  U.S. Attorneys » Southern District of Florida Department of Justice  U.S. Attorney’s Office  Southern District of Florida  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Former Biscayne Park Police Chief Sentenced for Conspiracy to Deprive Persons of Civil Rights by Ordering Officers to Make False Arrests  U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Troy Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), today announced that former Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano was sentenced to 36 months incarceration for conspiracy to deprive individuals of their civil rights. Former Chief Atesiano previously pleaded guilty to acting under color of law as chief of police when on three separate occasions he ordered former officers Guillermo Ravelo, Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez to falsely arrest and charge individuals with unsolved burglaries.  According to court filings, Chief Atesiano intentionally encouraged those officers to arrest individuals without a legal basis in order to have arrests effectuated for all reported burglaries. This created a fictitious 100% clearance rate for that category of crime. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to holding those individuals accountable who abuse their positions of power to strip others of their civil rights,” stated U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan.  “Today, former Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano stood before the court to answer for his crimes and the federal prison sentence that was imposed is one step toward justice for the victims and our South Florida community.”  “For his own professional benefit, Chief Atesiano corruptly and disgracefully abused his authority and the power of his office to create fictitious clearance statistics by falsely arresting individuals,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “This kind of abuse of power has no place in our nation and is contrary to American ideals, the rule of law, and fundamental fairness.  The Department will continue to hold accountable officers who violate individual rights and betray the communities that they have been entrusted to serve and protect.” More at link if you can stand it...  https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/former-biscayne-park-police-chief-sentenced-conspiracy-deprive-persons-civil-rights