Former Savannah-Chatham police officer sent to prison for extortion www.privateofficer.com

Savannah GA May 2 2012 A former Savannah-Chatham police officer on Monday was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and fined $1,000 for extortion at a downtown nightspot while working off-duty in police uniform.

Floyd B. Sawyer Jr., 45, must serve a three-year supervised release term after he is freed from confinement and complete 100 hours of community service during the first 12 months of his release, U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled during a brief sentencing appearance.

Sawyer will have until June 1 to report to the prison designated by the federal Bureau of Prisons, Moore said.

The government charged that Sawyer, whle working security in full uniform and wearing his department-issued weapon at the Club Deja-Groove, 302 Williamson St., on May 22, 2010, took a cellphone, money and drugs from an undercover FBI informant posing as a drug dealer before releasing the man without a charge.

Moore sentenced a second man, former Savannnah-Chatham police detective Kelvin Frazier, to nine months in federal prison on Jan. 18 for concealing Sawyer’s conduct.

Evidence has shown Sawyer kept the cellphone for a relative; Frazier kept the drugs — 30 placebo Oxycontin pills.

Moore’s sentence for Frazier took into account the government’s urging that he get credit for helping investigators in the case.

Moore “conditionally” accepted Sawyer’s guilty plea on Jan. 20 as part of a negotiated plea agreement with government prosecutors.

In court Monday, Sawyer apologized for his conduct, adding that “If I had been paying attention to what was going on around me” he might not be before the court.

“I will do what I need to do to make this case go away,” Sawyer told Moore.

In his sentencing memorandum, defense attorney Nicholas Bruce urged Moore to sentence Sawyer below the 18 months recommended in a pre-sentencing investigation by probation officers.

“He pled guilty to a serious crime,” Bruce argued. “His life as he knew it is now over.”

Sawyer, who joined the force April 26, 2002, was fired by Chief Willie Lovett on Sept. 14, 2010, for violation of procedures unrelated to the extortion investigation.

Bruce’s memo argued Sawyer was a devoted husband and father of three who spent years bettering his community, as well as providing financial support for another child despite being under no court-ordered support obligations.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durham argued in court the 18-month sentence was in line with the plea agreement.

Source:savannahnow.com

Former Savannah-Chatham police officer pleads guilty to federal extortion charge www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Savannah GA Jan 22 2012 A former Savannah-Chatham police officer Friday pleaded guilty in federal court to extorting drugs and a cellphone at a downtown nightspot while working off-duty in uniform.

Floyd B. Sawyer Jr., 45, admitted to the extortion charge but stopped short of conceding he used force or intimidation in what he indicated was consensual conduct by the victim, an undercover FBI “source” posing as a drug dealer.

U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. expressed concern over Sawyer’s characterization and only “conditionally” accepted the plea pending completion of a pre-sentencing report by probation officers.

“Then I may or may not accept this plea,” Moore said.

Sawyer will remain on pre-trial release pending Moore’s decision or sentencing.

Sawyer, who joined the force April 26, 2002, was fired by Chief Willie Lovett on Sept. 14, 2010, for violation of procedures unrelated to the extortion investigation.

FBI Special Agent Tim Fehmel testified that Drug Enforcement Administration officials reported in late April 2010 that an off-duty Savannah-Chatham police officer, whom he identified as Sawyer, was conducting illegal activity at the club, Deja-Groove, 310 Williamson St.

Agents re-created the scenario using a “source” from Atlanta posing as a drug dealer, and on May 22, 2010, Sawyer removed the “dealer” from the dance floor of the club and took him to the kitchen, Fehmel said.

There Sawyer and a second officer, Sgt. Kelvin Frazier, “toyed” with the source over a 20-minute period, threatened him with arrest and took the fake Oxycontin and a cellphone, First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durham told Moore.

Sawyer kept the cellphone later used by a relative, and the drugs wound up with a small-time drug dealer associated with Frazier, Durham said.

Frazier pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge he concealed Sawyer’s illegal activity in return for a nine-month prison sentence, based in part on his cooperation with investigators against Sawyer.

Sawyer admitted to Moore he took the cellphone but said he “didn’t have any knowledge of any drugs leaving that club at the time.”

He told Moore the victim willingly gave up the phone, stating “as long as he could go, we could keep everything.”

When Moore expressed concern over the characterization, Sawyer admitted he was in uniform and “jokingly or not” said his daughter would like to have the cellphone.

Moore pointed out the indictment accused Sawyer of using force and his official position against the victim.

“At no time did I threaten him, but I was in uniform,” Sawyer said, adding he felt his being in uniform did play a part in the victim relinquishing his property.

Moore, characterizing Sawyer’s comments that everything was consensual, said he was unpersuaded.

“I’ve got a problem with that,” he told Durham.

Source:Savannahnow.com