The New York Daily News by Kevin Deutsch & Erin Durkin - December 9, 2011
Prosecutors offer alleged crooked cop, who'll serve 50 years if convicted, 18 years in jail if he pleads guilty
Ticket-fixing cop suspect Jose Ramos has been offered a plea deal on a slew of charges. Prosecutors offered the Bronx cop at the center of the ticket-fixing scandal a plea deal Friday - 18 years in jail instead of the 50 he faces if convicted on all charges. Officer Jose Ramos is facing 26 counts that include attempted robbery, transporting what he believed to be massive a shipment of heroin in his squad car while in uniform, selling stolen goods andcounterfeit CDs and DVDs, and other crimes. Under the deal, he would also get five years of supervision following his release, prosecutors said. The 17-year veteran, who worked the midnight shift at the 40th precinct, is accused of using the two Bronx barbershops he inherited from his father as a front for drug deals - all the while relying on his badge for protection. Authorities built a case against him by placing in undercover officer trained in cutting hair in one of the shops. He apparently sunk much of the proceeds into illegal gambling, using a bookie to make high-stakes wagers on baseball, football, basketball and hockey - sometimes for several thousand dollars a pop, according to an internal NYPD memo summarizing phone taps. The investigation into the accused crooked cop - in which he was caught on tape discussing fixing summonses in exchange for gifts - triggered a massive NYPD ticket fixing scandal that led to the indictment of Ramos and 15 other cops and has roiled the department. Authorities said the cops would make summonses vanish before they reached court, or lean on Patrolmen's Benevolent Association members to lie in court and get the tickets thrown out. Ramos and the other cops pled not guilty in October. Ramos was held on a hefty $500,000 bail. He will weigh the plea offer with his lawyer before making a decision. kdeutsch@nydailynews.com
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