Thieving shake down cop gets mandatory minimum 275 YEARS!!!

[SomeGuy]

Gotta love the justice system sometimes.


Commercial Appeal

Ex-cop convicted of shakedowns

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Arthur Sease IV's plan of becoming a rap record producer ended Thursday when a federal court jury convicted the former police officer of shaking down drug dealers for money, drugs and merchandise to finance his dream.

U.S. Dist. Judge Jon McCalla took nearly 30 minutes to go through the 50-count indictment with the jury foreman. At count 45, an agitated Sease gestured toward the jury and appeared to mouth the words, "You all just gave me life."

Sease, 31, who was convicted on 44 counts, faces a mandatory minimum of 275 years in prison and a maximum of life plus 255 years.

He is scheduled to be sentenced May 14.

Sease, who remains in custody, was convicted of participating in or directing 16 robberies of drug dealers between November 2003 and April 2006.

Witnesses in the nine-day trial included law enforcement investigators, drug dealers and fellow officers who have pleaded guilty to their roles in the on-duty robberies.

One dealer testified that Sease robbed him of some $32,000 in cash, but Sease hitting the jackpot that afternoon in April 2004 also finally angered a dealer enough to report him to police.

"I called 911 and I said 'I've just been robbed by a Memphis police officer,'" Reggie Brown told jurors during the trial. He reported Sease's squad car number, picked the officer from a photo spread and identified him in trial.

Sease was fired in January 2005 after nearly four years on the force, but prosecutors Steve Parker and Jonathan Skrmetti said he continued to arrange robberies by enlisting the help of department friends still in uniform.

"His record label failed, but the robberies continued," Skrmetti told jurors in his closing argument. "Arthur Sease was the heart of the conspiracy."

He was convicted of conspiring to commit offenses including civil rights violations, kidnapping, extortion, robbery, drug possession, drug dealing, illegal use of firearms and money-laundering.

The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for some 16 hours over three days.


Three codefendants who pleaded guilty and testified against Sease are awaiting sentencing. Another, former reserve officer Andrew Hunt, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Sease is one of about four dozen law enforcement officers from six different agencies who have been named in public-corruption cases over the past five years.

He is the first to go to trial.

 

[SouthernGuerila]

Nice find, too bad it doesnt happen more often...

 

[swampdank]

Reminds me of a movie I saw once.

 

[swishaman]

I wonder how Arthur Sease I, II and III feel about this.

 

[been]

Mandatory minimum laws are fucked up.

 

[ElGato]

Mandatory minimum laws are fucked up.

true...
but in this case i think the former officer got what was comming to him
and once he is in , i bet he will get even more of whats comming to him




mj

 

[CC Rider]

word.....nice to see the system actullly being effective...

 

[Mr. Freeman]

275 years! woooh. I hate pigs but this is a bit too much for what he did. I don't think the sentence goes with the crime. Its not like he killed anyone.

My 2 cents

 

[Lt. Herb]

Meh, I think the punishment for LEOs who commit a crime should be more severe, especially when it was premeditated (and recurring in this case), maybe not for crimes of passion 'n such. But this guy was using his badge as carte blanch to rob people. He knew it was wrong which is why he targeted drug dealers because they wouldn't call the real cops on his ass.

Basically it boils down to he got life for 16+ armed robberies, seems bout right to me, considering Joe Schmoe would get a decade or two for holding up a liquor store.

 

[Classyathome]

His butthole is gonna be hurtin' when they find out he's ex leo...

 

[centralcoastbud]

Definitely believe the 275 year minimum is not harsh enough... should have made it 500.

 

[xcrispi]

Thats Karma at it's finest .
Dbl. thumbs up on that find bro.

Same stuff was going on in Detroit until somneone lost enough to call and bitch .
Internal Affairs ended up w/ undercovers out running the streets posed as dealers. 21 crooked cops lost their jobs , some w/ as much as 20 yrs. time in. But none of the bastards got jail time . =(

Crispi

 

[Budsmith]

hehehe.... crooked cop gets what he deserves..

 

[oohcow]

karma owned him

 

[mazzakush]

damn, fuckin eh. 275. I mean fuck.

I don't think anyone should get over 5 unless they kill someone. That's a lot of fuckin time to think.....

 

[Somke_Somke]

That's a little harsh, even if it was an ex LEO. You shouldn't get life for anything short of murder IMO.

 

[lockehead]

" how the fuck do you do triple life? i mean,... if you died.. and came back... you gotta go to jail! he be in kindergarden "oh get your lil' ass back in there. you know what you did

 

[SomeGuy]

Yeah mandatory minimums do suck but, in this case I think he got the sentence deserved.
Like others said he was entrusted, wanted all the respect and authority that came with it, and then took a big dump on it so he and his buddies could get fat.

I think it ought to be law that LEO get mandatory double what a citizen would get for violating public trust.

 

[zomg1]

karma is most definitely a biatch

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

I wonder how Arthur Sease I, II and III feel about this.

VI would probably sum it up