By Manny Fantis
Washington, DC
GREENBELT, Md. — Prince George’s County’s police chief reacted to the federal indictments against three of his department’s officers Monday.
“I am outraged at the disgraceful conduct demonstrated by these officers, who tarnished our badge for their own greed and personal gain. We applaud the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI for their efforts to clean our department from the outside, while we continue to clean from the inside. Since the beginning of my administration, I have terminated officers and employees for misconduct. We will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners to address the problem of misconduct - in fact, an Internal Affairs sergeant from our agency is part of the FBI anti-corruption task force that investigated these officers. The majority of our officers are hardworking men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service to our community; we rely on the public trust and will not tolerate even one employee who breaches the oath of office,” stated Chief of Police Roberto Hylton.
In two indictments unsealed Monday, a federal grand jury indicted three Prince George’s County Police officers, and six others, officials said in a news release.
Prince George’s County police confirmed the three officers, two from Beltsville, were picked up by federal agents Monday.
The two indictments include drug trafficking and firearms violations; forfeiture sought for $3.5 million, 25 properties, 13 vehicles and 84 bank accounts.
“Police officers are given badges and guns to prevent crimes, but these police officers allegedly used them to commit crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “The indictment charges that they crossed a bright line from catching criminals to conspiring with criminals.”
“This investigation demonstrates that no one is above the law. The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, is committed to seeking out all forms of corruption, especially among those that serve the public,” FBI officials said.
“Public officials must comply with the same laws as the citizens they serve,” said IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Sparkman, Washington, D.C. Field Office. “The IRS-Criminal Investigation is helping to ensure that all Americans, including public officials, are held to the same standard.”
The first indictment charges seven defendants with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion under color of official right, including Prince George’s County Police Sgt. Richard Delabrer, 45, of Laurel and Prince George’s Police Cpl. Chong Chin Kim, 42, of Beltsville.
In the second indictment, Officer Sinisa Simic, 25, and Mirza Kujundzic, 30, both of Woodbridge, Va., face a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison in connection with a conspiracy to distribute cocaine indictment. They also face a mandatory five years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The defendants were expected to have their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Monday, U.S. attorney officials said.
The U.S. attorney’s office started its investigation on Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson in 2006.
Johnson and his wife Leslie were arrested Friday at their Mitchellville home.
The Johnson’s face tampering with witness charges, and destruction, falsification and altering of documents charges.
Copyright 2010 Gannett Company, Inc.