Cocaine-Dealing, Bribe-Taking Uptown Cop Pleads Guilty: DA

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — A former police officer assigned to an Uptown Manhattan precinct pleaded guilty to a series of charges tied to his corrupt behavior, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced.

Johnny Diaz, 48, will serve "significant prison time" after pleading guilty to charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, bribe receiving and petit larceny, District Attoryney Cyrus Vance Jr., said Tuesday. Diaz was indicted in June and accused of taking bribes to make charges disappear and aiding in drug deals.

"Officer Diaz has now admitted to acts of official corruption for which he will serve significant prison time. The particular acts he committed – pocketing seized cash, accepting a bribe, and helping to transport cocaine – each undermined public safety in their own right," Vance said in a statement. "But more dangerously, his pattern of corruption jeopardized New Yorkers’ faith in law enforcement."

Prosecutors did not specify how much jail time Diaz will receive as part of his plea deal.

Most of the charges against Diaz stemmed from his role in transporting a kilogram of cocaine from the Bronx to West 125th Street and Broadway in Harlem for $4,000. The alleged crooked cop got wrapped into the drug deal by a man he arrested in May, prosecutors said. Diaz believed the man was a drug dealer, but was actually an undercover cop who was investigating a tip that Diaz had been taking bribes from arrestees, prosecutors said.

On June 15, Diaz helped the undercover officer transport cocaine by acting as his escort. Diaz drove behind the cop's vehicle and told him to drive slowly, to avoid talking on the phone and to tell any officer that stopped him to talk to Diaz, prosecutors said.

After the drug deal was successful, Diaz was recorded telling the undercover cop: "I can do life for this... I should know better. I'm a cop."

Photo by Patch