Former Police Chief Pleads Guilty To Framing Three Innocent Black Men In Miami, Florida

Former Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano confessed at his plea hearing in Miami federal court last Friday that he ordered three of his officers to frame three African-American men for burglaries in order to achieve a seemingly perfect property crimes record in his department in 2013. Due to his admission, his sentence is expected to be lessened — much to the dismay of the Black community. 

Five years ago, Atesiano boasted of his department’s exceptional 100 percent clearance rate on burglaries in Biscayne Park. Last week, however, he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of depriving three men — one of which was 16 years old — of their civil rights because he and his officers framed them just to perfect his department’s records.

Atesiano’s conviction initially carried a sentence of up to 10 years, but because of his guilty plea, prosecutors are now recommending only a two-year sentence.

Atesiano, who is now 52-years old, resigned in 2014 from the police force. He is about to face trial last Monday when he changed his plea. His lawyer, Richard Docobo, negotiated the plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Desrouleaux, a Haitian immigrant who has lived legally in the United States for more than 20 years, was one of three black men who federal prosecutors say were victims of a police department’s conspiracy to make itself look good at fighting crime at the expense of innocent people who were framed. One victim was as young as 16. In all three cases, police officers invented evidence, falsified police reports or coerced or fabricated confessions to pin the burglaries on the men — all so that they could maintain impressive crime stats, according to federal criminal court documents. 

The consequence of the wrongful conviction for Desrouleaux: five years wasted in prison and deportation back to Haiti, a federal lawsuit now claims.

Former chief Atesiano pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to conspiring to deprive people of civil rights while admitting that he directed subordinate officers to make knowingly false arrests to clear unsolved burglaries. Three other former officers pleaded guilty in July and August to deprivation of civil rights for their roles in the wrongful arrests. They will each be sentenced in the coming weeks.

“The police chief of Biscayne Park essentially wanted to have good stats with 100 percent solve rates on thefts and burglaries, so he ordered his police officers to go after people — from my understanding, black people — with criminal records,” said Cam Cornish, an attorney for one of the three framed men, Erasmus Banmah. “Basically, this was a case of people in positions of power picking on the marginalized society.”

While race was not a factor in the federal criminal case, a Village of Biscayne Park Police Department internal affairs investigation obtained by The Washington Post suggests the command staff may have instructed officers to specifically target black people.

Atesiano is scheduled to appear in court for his sentencing on November 27.

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