NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – The former head of the New Haven police narcotics unit admitted Friday that he stole thousands of dollars planted by the FBI during a sting operation and took bribes from bail bondsmen.
Former Lt. William White, 63, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit bribery and theft of government property. He faces 37 to 46 months in prison under federal guidelines when he is sentenced Jan. 14.
He has been free on $2 million bond since his arrest.
White, shaking at times and fighting back tears, admitted taking $14,000 planted by the FBI at an investigation scene and $1,000 during another operation. He also admitted taking $10,000 in bribes from bail bondsmen in return for capturing fugitives and $400 during the search of a house.
The money White stole represented about half the money taken, with the rest shared with an undercover officer, authorities said.
Prosecutors said the scheme with the bail bondsmen began in 2002, but White said they started last year.
“I took money that didn’t belong to me that belonged to the government,” White said.
His attorney, Hubert Santos, said White is under the care of a psychiatrist and taking antidepressants. “Since my representation of Mr. White, he has been in a very agitated emotional state with bouts of intermediate depression,” Santos said. “He has been in very bad shape emotionally.”
Santos said that he reads legal materials to White because White can’t sit down and focus enough to read them.
Santos and the judge agreed, however, that White was competent to enter the plea.
White was told the money he took from the investigation scene belonged to a drug dealer. He took the cash from the trunk of a rental car and wrote “estupido” on the bag that contained the money, authorities said.
When he went to take the money, he pulled a “hoodie” sweat shirt over his head, tied a scarf around his face and put on gloves.
White, who was fired after his arrest, took the money even though he had expressed concerns that it could get a female informant killed, authorities said. The informant turned out to be fictitious.
U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor said the case shows that corrupt police will be held accountable. The investigation was continuing, but authorities also noted that New Haven police have been cooperative, he said.
“People should still have confidence in law enforcement,” O’Connor said. “These are aberrational cases.”
White, a 39-year veteran, was credited with helping dismantle violent drug gangs that plagued the city in the 1990s. But his tactics sometimes drew scrutiny.
John Williams, a New Haven attorney, has said he sued White several times over decades, accusing him of planting evidence, brutality and other misconduct. He said the cases were typically settled in favor of his clients, but White stayed on the job after efforts to fire and transfer him were overturned.
Mayor John DeStefano said the police chief considered reassigning White, but ultimately did not.
“The chief and I may have discussed it,” DeStefano said. “I don’t direct the chief in his assignments. Nor do I see anything in the chief’s assignment that was responsible for Billy White’s behavior here.”
Chief Francisco Ortiz said he considered transferring White a few years ago because of concerns about how he was managing the unit, but he said there was no evidence of theft or bribery. DeStefano did not play any role other than to express broader concerns about the process for making transfers in the department, he said.
The plea came after two detectives, including one charged with White, plead guilty this month to civil rights charges.
New Haven officials disbanded the narcotics unit after the arrests, handing over some of its cases to state authorities and embarking on an independent review to reform the unit.
Following complaints, authorities also have reviewed a few cases involving the drug unit, but have not found reason to reopen them, New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington said.
AP-ES-10-26-07 2008EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
