Rogue LAPD officer gets 13 years in prison

[kfrost06]

A disgraced former Los Angeles police officer was sentenced Monday to more than 13 years in federal prison for recruiting and leading fellow rogue law enforcement officers and others who committed home invasion robberies staged to look like police raids.

Ruben Palomares, 38, admitted leading more than 40 phony raids from early 1999 to June 2001 at homes in working-class neighborhoods in Los Angeles County while he was still on the police force.

U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess sentenced him to 158 months in federal prison.

Along with Palomares, members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Long Beach Police Department and California Department of Corrections took part in the raids.

Palomares also recruited civilians, friends and family members, including his 34-year-old cousin, Gabriel Loaiza, who was sentenced Monday by Feess to nine years in federal prison.

Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the civil rights of others, conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, violating the civil rights of others and using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Added into their previous sentences for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Palomares will have spent about 20 years in prison, while Loaiza -- who cooperated very early in the government's case -- will have served a total of 15 years.

Addressing the court, Palomares called his stint behind bars ``the most embarrassing thing I've been through.''

``I became a criminal -- something I never wanted to do; something I despised,'' he said.
He said he found his calling through his Christian prison ministry.

Palomares, who has been in custody since selling a large amount of stolen cocaine to an undercover federal agent in San Diego in June 2001, became emotional when talking about his five children.

Both Palomares and family members assembled in the courtroom began weeping when he recited his childrens' ages now compared to before his arrest.

Feess said Palomares wouldn't see his children grow up, but his sentence ``will give him the opportunity to be part of their lives after he's been released.''

Both Palomares and Loaiza -- who said his crimes were the product of ``plain stupidity'' -- could have spent the rest of their lives in prison, but their cooperation with the FBI and federal prosecutors led to a reduction of their potential sentences.

Both Palomares and Loaiza testified in January against two of their co- conspirators, ex-LAPD Officer William Ferguson and his brother, ex-Long Beach Police Officer Joseph Ferguson. Both men were convicted.

During his testimony, Palomares described a ``war'' between police and criminals and said he became disillusioned after the corruption scandal that hit the LAPD's Rampart Division in the late 1990s. He said he and other law enforcement officers decided to rob drug dealers as a way to combat criminals -- and make quick money.

Acting on tips from an informant, Palomares and other uniformed officers went to homes where drugs or cash were believed to be stashed.

Palomares said he would tell the residents that officers were conducting a ``narcotics investigation,'' then search the house. He conceded that victims were often threatened, restrained or assaulted during the searches.

The officers would then split the stolen cash or sell the drugs on the street for profit, Palomares said.

In some instances, the officers got incorrect information from their informants, and innocent people were robbed, Palomares said.

Prosecutors said that on one occasion, Palomares and others tortured a Compton drug dealer at his home, beating him and shoving a gun in his mouth when no drugs or cash were found.

Some of the victims of the raids included children.

Palomares also admitted to falsifying evidence, committing perjury and writing bogus police reports during his years at the LAPD.

``He wasn't much of a police officer the last years he was on the force,'' Feess said today.

Winston McKesson, Palomares' attorney, said the Mexican Mafia and other prison gangs had threatened Palomares' life, and his status as a convicted ex-cop made him a target of other inmates.

McKesson also said Palomares had risked his life by acting as a religious minister to other prisoners.

``He is truly a man of God,'' McKesson said.

But U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien, who once was the lead prosecutor on this case, had a different take.

``With brazen disregard for the safety of those he was victimizing, Ruben Palomares repeatedly violated the sanctity of the law he was sworn to uphold,'' O'Brien said in a prepared statement.

[kfrost06]

^^^L.A.'s finest

[gixxerboy1]

doesnt seem like much time considering everthing he did

[kfrost06]

doesnt seem like much time considering everthing he did

well according to his attorney, "He is truly a man of God,'' McKesson said.



yes, you are right he should be doing life and forced to stay in GP

[BigLittleTim]

It's strange, the number of rogue "bad apples" that wind up on the police force. It's starting to seem more like the norm, than the exception to the rule, when cops abuse their power and authority to break the law.

Who will protect us from our "protectors"?

-BigLittleTim

[MuscleScience]

It's strange, the number of rogue "bad apples" that wind up on the police force. It's starting to seem more like the norm, than the exception to the rule, when cops abuse their power and authority to break the law.

Who will protect us from our "protectors"?

-BigLittleTim

It only seems like it because no one post vids on youtube when a cop does his job correctly. No one writes an article when a police man does his duty. As soon as one cop does something wrong it gets posted on youtube and is proven as evidence that all cops are pieces of crap. I would dare to guess that a vast vast majority of police officers do there job correctly and to the letter of the law. Yes there are cops that abuse there power, thats called the human factor. But in no way does one cops action affect the entire profession.

[james21]

13 yrs... thats a big chunk of someones life.

Reminds me of training day

[gixxerboy1]

13 yrs... thats a big chunk of someones life.

Reminds me of training day

it is a long time.But what do you think anyone else would have gotten. Armed robbery, selling drugs and other charges.