What to Know
- An NYPD officer was sentenced to 6 years in state prison for transporting cocaine in exchange for money, prosecutors said Wednesday
- Johnny Diaz was sentenced to six years in prison helping to transport a kilogram of cocaine in exchange for $4,000, according to prosecutors
- Pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 2nd degree, bribe receiving in the 2nd degree and petit larceny
An NYPD officer was sentenced to state prison for transporting cocaine in exchange for money, Manhattan prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Johnny Diaz was sentenced to six years in prison for helping to transport a kilogram of cocaine in exchange for $4,000, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. said.
Diaz pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, bribe receiving in the second degree and petit larceny on Aug. 14.
“Thanks to my Office’s Public Corruption Unit and our partners in the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, Officer Diaz has now admitted to acts of official corruption for which he will serve significant prison time," Vance Jr. said, adding, Diaz's "pattern of corruption jeopardized New Yorkers’ faith in law enforcement at a time when police and prosecutors are working proactively every day to increase public confidence in our work.”
According to the indictment and statements made on the record in court, on May 23, Diaz arrested an individual he believed to be a drug dealer who was actually an undercover NYPD officer, News 4 reported on June 25.
The undercover officer was investigating allegations that Diaz, 48, accepted money from arrestees to help get their criminal cases dismissed.
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Diaz allegedly seized half a kilogram of cocaine and $18,000 cash from the undercover officer, but only logged the receipt of $17,000 in cash.
Following the arrest, officials allege that Diaz began socializing with the undercover officer, gave him his cellphone number and instructed the undercover officer to use the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp to contact him.
Additionally, during the investigation, Diaz allegedly accepted a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label scotch from the undercover officer as a thank-you gift for removing the undercover officer’s cell phone from the evidence room.
According to the district attorney’s office, Diaz also agreed to help get the undercover officer’s case dismissed in exchange for about $20,000 in cash —$7,500 of which he accepted as a down payment.
Authorities said that on June 15, Diaz accepted $4,000 to help the undercover officer transport cocaine from the Bronx to the corner of West 125th Street and Broadway in Harlem. He also allegedly instructed the undercover officer to drive slowly, avoid talking on the phone and to tell any police officers who might stop him to talk to Diaz, who was behind the undercover cop in a transport vehicle.
After allegedly transporting the drugs — and while driving with the undercover officer to a nightclub in Northern Manhattan — Diaz was recorded saying, “I can do life for this…I should know better. I’m a cop,” authorities said.
