A Gavel – File / Photo: AP
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer has been acquitted of corruption charges linked to drug busts.
NYPD Officer Julio Alvarez was cleared Friday by a judge in Brooklyn.
His co-defendant, Detective Sean Johnstone, is still on trial. He faces charges of falsely reporting that the two had recovered only 17 bags of cocaine from a bust, rather than the 28 bags they actually seized.
A probe into the case uncovered evidence of narcotics officers accepting cash, drugs and sex, and led to a shake-up of a drug investigation unit.
The two officers were charged with tampering with business records, filing false instruments and official misconduct.
The city paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle lawsuits filed by people arrested as suspects by implicated officers.
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(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
