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White tears were flowing like the Hudson River in a New York courtroom from a crooked cop convicted of wrongdoing. Of course, his waterworks allowed him to avoid up to four years in prison.
According to New York Daily News, Jason Arbeeny was an NYPD detective convicted of planting drugs on an innocent couple. He entered the court on Thursday to face his sentencing and he gave one final plea to the judge, saying that he was ashamed of himself and pleading for mercy.
“I can’t look at myself in the mirror anymore,” he whined to Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach. “Sir, I am begging you, please don’t send me to jail.”
The judge was clearly moved because he only sentenced Arbeeny to five years’ probation and 300 hours of community service. He even said each hour Arbeeny spends talking to officers or police recruits about his misdeeds will count as two hours, essentially allowing his sentence to be reduced. “I came into court this morning determined that the nature of this crime requires some jail time,” Reichbach said. “I frankly didn’t expect the defendant, at the 11th hour, to be making these claims.”
Arbeeny was one of eight officers indicted in a Brooklyn South Narcotics and his trial showed the corrupt side of narcotics policing. The case involved cops getting sexual favors from junkies in exchange for drugs as well as making false arrests to meet quotas and stack overtime.
Reichbach described Arbeeny’s conduct as “not only reprehensible abuse of trust and authority but the corruption of the entire criminal justice system.” Yet, he only gave him probation and community service hours.
Arbeeny’s lawyer contributed to his pity story, showing off Arbeeny’s wife and how he had lost his job, his pension and his health. Arbeeny also talked about how his young son is in therapy after threatening suicide. Makes you wonder how many of these stories the judge hears from Black suspects and what they get off with.
Defense lawyer Michael Elbaz argued that cops were under “enormous pressure” to meet arrest quotas.
Meanwhile, Arbeeny’s victims, Yvelisse DeLeon and Juan Figueroa, had asked that Reichbach send Arbeeny to prison and they seemed ambivalent about the probation sentence, according to New York Daily News. When asked if it was a just sentence, DeLeon responded, “Not really.” Meanwhile, Figueroa called Arbeeny’s plea “touching.”
“He lost everything,” he added.
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