LOS ANGELES – A former police officer serving 15 years in prison on drug trafficking and weapon charges admitted that he and other officers were behind a violent robbery spree that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ruben Palomares, 34, and about 20 others collected drugs, cash, guns and other items in robberies between 1998 and 2001, according to a plea agreement and other documents, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
The robberies were often staged to look like law enforcement raids, with Palomares and the others dressed in police uniforms and flashing badges, according to the documents. In one instance, the robbers even identified themselves as cops as they stole television sets from the back of a semi truck on a street.
The ex-Rampart Division officer pleaded guilty to a potential life sentence in connection with the robberies and agreed to cooperate with authorities, the documents said.
Winston Kevin McKesson, Palomares’ lawyer, said his client became a born-again Christian after his arrest and is trying to make amends for his misdeeds.
“He’s decided to step forward and try to see that justice is done,” said McKesson, who also represented Rafael Perez, the officer who launched the Rampart division corruption investigation in 1999. “He’s trying to get right with God.”
The charges are the result of an ongoing federal investigation that began when Palomares was caught buying 10 kilograms of cocaine from undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents in San Diego in 2001.
During the spree, at least two men were shot with stun guns, while another man was beaten with a police baton, had a gun shoved in his mouth and was burned with a lighter, the Times reported.
The group sold the more than 700 pounds of marijuana, 50 kilos of cocaine, and an assortment of firearms and jewelry that it collected, the court papers state.
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