by Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) - Two former Hialeah police officers face prison time after the end of their federal trials for setting up three robberies, one of them drug related, and beating hostages, officials said Tuesday.
Suspended officer Cecilio Nunez, 39, was found guilty Tuesday of five robbery and robbery charges, while retired officer Orestes DeSoto, 46, pleaded guilty last week to eight federal robbery, narcotics and firearms charges, U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said.
The two were arrested in October for the robberies, which were committed in a little more than a month in early 2000.
Lawyers for the officers and a spokesman for Hialeah police did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday.
The investigation, nicknamed “Bad Apple,” was organized by a task force of federal and state agents targeting corrupt officers. The Hialeah department cooperated with the investigation.
In the most extreme case, a restaurant manager was abducted, beaten and threatened with a gun by DeSoto, who thought the man doubled as a cocaine dealer.
Investigators said the victim was stopped in a marked car and handcuffed before a hood was placed over his head.