OAKLAND — Patrick Berhan, the previous Pittsburg police officer whose scheme to amass unlawful pay raises let to an enormous corruption investigation into two East Bay departments, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in jail.
Berhan shuddered barely as U.S. District Decide Jeffrey White introduced the sentence in court docket Tuesday afternoon, however didn’t in any other case react. He is not going to serve his jail time period instantly, however slightly be given a give up date and stay out of custody within the meantime.
The sentence is greater than even prosecutors requested for, however White stated he was struck by the breach of belief and Berhan’s alleged destruction of proof. He stated it was a “very, very critical matter that requires a really, very critical sentence.”
Berhan pleaded responsible earlier this yr to wire fraud, conspiracy, and distribution of anabolic steroids to different regulation enforcement officers, and acknowledged his crimes in a public assertion to the court docket Tuesday. His voice cracked as he instructed White he would “stroll the lengthy path to redemption for the remainder of my life…so my son can take a look at me at some point and see a father he’s pleased with.”
“I used to be surrounded by negativity,” Berhan stated of his regulation enforcement profession in Pittsburg. “Over time I felt my ethical compass shifting. I used to be keen to chop corners, or I assume you’d say cheat to win. I used to be keen to do it with faculty. I used to be keen to do it with steroids…issues I deeply remorse to today.”
White acknowledged Berhan’s apology however stated he doubted whether or not Berhan would have stopped his criminality had he not been caught. White stated he was not attempting to be humorous, however was struck by the irony of Berhan ruining his life and turning to criminality whereas dishonest to amass a level in prison regulation.
“Had you truly taken the programs and skim and achieved the essays, taken the exams, possibly that may have induced you to hesitate to commit this delinquent conduct,” White stated.
In some ways, Berhan was the catalyst for the complete investigation aimed toward Pittsburg and Antioch officers, which resulted in prison costs towards 14 of them. He instructed his then-fiancee to cheat on on-line school programs to acquire a level — and “earn” a pay increase supplied metropolis staff who purchase greater training. Then he supplied the lady’s providers to different officers at each departments.
The scheme got here crashing down when Berhan confessed infidelity to the lady, and she or he promptly got here ahead to the FBI. A number of concerned officers’ telephones have been subsequently seized in a collection of early 2022 FBI raids, which is the place authorities discovered proof of extra critical crimes, together with an alleged conspiracy by three Antioch officers to assault individuals for sport.
All these details have been contemporary in White’s thoughts on Tuesday. He just lately presided over the trial of ex-Antioch officer Morteza Amiri, a former K9 cop implicated in each the school diploma scheme and the civil rights violations. Berhan’s ex was the federal government’s star witness and she or he testified that Berhan gave her a selection: commit fraud for him and his buddies, or they wouldn’t be capable of keep collectively, purchase a house, and construct a life collectively.
White stated the truth that Berhan and his friends have been in regulation enforcement solely exacerbated the seriousness of the scheme.
“Cops have numerous energy over individuals’s lives. It strikes the court docket that in very man cases you might have violated that sacred belief that was positioned on you,” White stated.
Berhan is the primary of these implicated to be sentenced to jail. One in every of his co-defendants, a former Antioch neighborhood service officer, averted jail time for her comparatively minor function within the scheme. Three of Berhan’s remaining 4 co-defendants entered responsible pleas and are awaiting sentencing, and a fourth — Amiri — was convicted at trial.
Berhan’s lawyer, Edward Robinson, argued for a 366-day sentence, arguing that Berhan “has made “great strides as to put up offense rehabilitation,” and “hasn’t complained,” however slightly sought work, taken care of his household, “honored his dad and mom,” and expressed regret for what he did. He stated Berhan’s work as a regulation enforcement officer added a breach of public belief to the offenses. He stated the crimes have been the results of “nice immaturity, greed, testosterone,” and “simply recklessness.”
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Eric Cheng stated that Berhan additionally took “very deliberate” steps to cover his prison conduct by destroying proof — putting some in a dumpster, deleting digital information and instructing his ex to do the identical.
“Mr. Berhan was the originator of the scheme. He’s the one which knew the opposite officers and introduced them in,” Cheng stated.
On the finish of his assertion, Berhan revealed that his personal organic father went to jail when Berhan was very younger. He stated he by no means acquired to know his dad and is “grateful” to his stepfather — a retired regulation enforcement officer — however that his father’s personal life’s journey is contemporary on his thoughts right now.
“I can’t assist however really feel like I’m repeating a cycle and it cuts me deeply,” Berhan stated.
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