NEWARK, N.J. – A federal grand jury today charged a sergeant with the Paterson Police Department with conspiring with other officers to violate individuals’ civil rights, and submitting a false police report to conceal their illegal activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Sergeant Michael Cheff, 49, of Paterson, New Jersey, was charged in a two-count indictment with conspiring to deprive individuals of civil rights under color of law and with falsifying a police report. Cheff was previously charged by criminal complaint in January 2020. He will be arraigned in federal court on a date to be determined.

According to documents filed in this and other cases, and statements made in court:

Eudy Ramos, Daniel Pent, Jonathan Bustios, Matthew Torres, and Frank Toledo were police officers with the Paterson Police Department. Cheff supervised their activities and approved their reports and other paperwork related to arrests and seizures of money, narcotics, and firearms. Ramos, Pent, Bustios, Torres, and Toledo, while on official duty, violated the civil rights of individuals in Paterson. They stopped and searched motor vehicles without any justification and stole cash and other items from the occupants. They also illegally stopped and searched individuals in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized cash from them. They concealed their activities by submitting to Cheff false reports that omitted, or lied about, their illegal activities. Cheff signed off on those false police reports, and routinely received a portion of these stolen monies from some of these officers. In 2016, Cheff told one of the officers to start “tagging,” or logging into evidence, some of the money that the officer was stealing, because effecting narcotics arrests without logging money into evidence would otherwise raise questions.

On Nov. 14, 2017, Cheff joined Bustios, Ramos, and Torres in stealing cash from an apartment in Paterson. Bustios, Ramos, and Torres stopped and arrested an individual in Paterson. Bustios stole a few hundred dollars from the individual during the arrest, then the officers went to the individual’s apartment, and were joined by Cheff. Torres stayed behind to guard the arrested individual, who was handcuffed in a police car, while Cheff, Ramos, and Bustios obtained consent to search the apartment by lying to the individual’s mother.

Cheff, Ramos, and Bustios then searched the individual’s room. Cheff located a safe inside a closet in the room and took money and narcotics from the safe. He handed a small portion of the money to Bustios and told Bustios to log it into evidence. Cheff put the rest of the money in his pocket. After the search, in a bathroom at the Paterson police station, Cheff gave Torres and Ramos a portion of the stolen money. Cheff also approved a police report that falsely stated that the officers had recovered $319 from on top of a shelf in the individual’s room.

Later that day, Bustios and Toledo exchanged text messages discussing Cheff’s theft of money. Bustios said, among other things, that Cheff “got us for over a stack today,” that “there was a safe” and that Cheff “grabbed the cash.” According to the individual whose apartment was searched, the safe contained approximately $2,700, and all of it was missing after the search was completed.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s indictment. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Paterson Police Chief Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee M. Cortes Jr., Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: John Lynch Esq., Union City

NEWARK, N.J. – A City of Paterson police officer today admitted conspiring with other officers to violate the civil rights of individuals in Paterson, using unreasonable and excessive force, and filing a false police report to conceal his criminal activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Police Officer Daniel Pent, 32, of Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force in violation of individuals’ civil rights, and filing a false police report.

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Pent, along with Paterson police officers Eudy Ramos, Jonathan Bustios, Matthew Torres, Frank Toledo, and others, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants. Pent and the other officers also stopped and searched individuals on the streets of Paterson, and illegally took their money. Pent and other officers arrested individuals in Paterson, seized cash from those individuals during the arrests, and split the cash proceeds among themselves. They covered up their criminal activity by filing false police reports. Pent admitted to the following illegal conduct:

• On Feb. 1, 2017, Pent and Ramos stopped and searched a vehicle in Paterson. They stole approximately $10,000 from the passenger of the vehicle and split it between themselves. Ramos and Pent then submitted an incident report to the Paterson Police Department in which they intentionally omitted any mention of the $10,000 theft.

• On May 27, 2016, Pent and Ramos arrested an individual, stole several hundred dollars in cash from the individual, and filled out a false currency seizure report that under-reported the amount of money the individual actually possessed. Pent and Ramos then applied a forged signature of the individual to the report to make it appear as though the individual had seen and agreed to the amount on the report.

While on official duty, Pent also routinely used unreasonable and excessive force in his encounters with individuals in Paterson, causing them bodily harm, including:

• Pent and other officers routinely delivered a “running tax” to individuals they arrested. If an individual ran from them, Pent and others would “tax” the individual by striking the individual multiple times, causing bodily injury.

• On Jan. 20, 2015, Pent and Ramos received a call regarding loud music coming from a vehicle on Doremus Avenue in Paterson. Pent and Ramos approached the individual in the vehicle, removed him from the vehicle and punched and kicked him. The individual suffered injuries, including eye injuries, as a result of Pent’s and Ramos’ excessive force.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights and the deprivation of civil rights charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000. Pent's sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2020.

Bustios pleaded guilty in December 2018 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to extortion under color of official right. He is awaiting sentencing. Torres pleaded guilty in May 2019 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2019. Toledo pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights, to using unreasonable and excessive force against individuals in Paterson, and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2019. Ramos pleaded guilty on Sept. 9, 2019, to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights, to using unreasonable and excessive force against individuals in Paterson, and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

Defense counsel: Michael Calabro Esq., Newark

NEWARK, N.J. – A City of Paterson police officer today admitted conspiring with other officers to violate the civil rights of individuals in Paterson, using unreasonable and excessive force against individuals in Paterson, and filing a false police report to conceal his criminal activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Eudy Ramos, 32, of Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to Counts 1 and 7 of an indictment against him, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and filing a false police report. Ramos also pleaded guilty to an information charging him with using unreasonable and excessive force in violation of individuals’ civil rights.

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Ramos, along with other Paterson police officers, including Jonathan Bustios, Daniel Pent, Matthew Torres, Frank Toledo, and others, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants. Ramos and the other officers also stopped and searched individuals on the streets of Paterson, and illegally took their money. He and other officers also arrested individuals in Paterson, seized cash from them during the arrests, and split the cash proceeds among themselves. To cover up their criminal activity, Ramos and his fellow officers then filed false police reports. Ramos admitted to the following instances of illegal conduct:

• On Feb. 1, 2017, Ramos and Pent stopped and searched a vehicle in Paterson. They stole approximately $10,000 from the passenger of the vehicle and split it between themselves. Ramos and Pent then submitted an incident report to the Paterson Police Department in which they intentionally omitted any mention of the $10,000 theft.

• On Dec. 1, 2017, Ramos and Bustios stopped and searched an individual on a street corner in Paterson and stole approximately $1,000 from the individual. After the theft, a video of a portion of the encounter was posted to Twitter by a third party.

• On Dec. 2, 2017, Ramos and Toledo arrested an individual. During the arrest, they stole $1,000 from the individual and split the proceeds.

• On Dec. 7, 2017, Torres and Ramos conducted a vehicle stop in Paterson. They searched the vehicle, the driver, and the passenger, who had approximately $3,100 and marijuana. Ramos told the passenger that instead of charging the passenger with distribution of marijuana they could take $500 from the passenger and have the passenger sign a piece of paper. Ramos then purportedly placed a call to his superior and told the passenger that the superior officer said it had to be $800. Ramos took out a piece of white paper, wrote something on it, and told the passenger to sign it. Ramos and Torres released the driver and passenger and shared the stolen cash proceeds. They did not report the stop and search of the vehicle and its occupants, or the cash seizure, to the Paterson Police Department.

• On Feb. 20, 2018, Ramos and Bustios stopped and searched a vehicle and detained the driver and passenger of the vehicle. They stole a bag containing approximately $1,800 from the car. They then agreed to meet at Peach and Plum streets in Paterson, a location with no camera, where Bustios passed a portion of the illegally seized cash to Ramos through the window of Bustios’ police car. Bustios and Ramos did not report to the Paterson Police Department the fact that they had stopped and searched the vehicle, detained and searched its occupants, and taken cash, all without legal justification.

• On March 5, 2018, Ramos and Torres stopped and searched a vehicle, without legal basis. The occupants of the encounter filmed the encounter and posted the video to Instagram. They asked Ramos his basis for conducting the vehicle stop, and Ramos responded, “Random stop.” Ramos did not locate any cash inside the vehicle and departed the scene without taking anything.

While on official duty, Ramos also routinely used unreasonable and excessive force in his encounters with individuals in Paterson, causing them bodily harm:

• Ramos and other officers routinely delivered a “running tax” to individuals they arrested. If an individual ran from them, Ramos and others would “tax” the individual by striking the individual multiple times, causing bodily injury.

• On Jan. 20, 2015, Ramos and Pent received a call regarding loud music coming from a vehicle on Doremus Avenue in Paterson. They approached an individual in the vehicle, removed him, and began punching and kicking him. The individual suffered bodily injury, including eye injuries, as a result of Ramos’ and Pent’s excessive force.

• On Sept. 7, 2016, Ramos placed a handcuffed individual in the backseat of his police car, without a seatbelt, to transport the individual to Paterson Police Department headquarters. Ramos then depressed the brakes on his police car and forced the individual to slam his head against the divider in the backseat of the police car, a tactic known as “brake-checking.” After the individual slammed his head on divider, Ramos jokingly said, “What happened, man? You gotta put your seatbelt on.” Ramos recorded a video of this incident.

• On March 2, 2017, Ramos and Bustios were dispatched to a call regarding stolen property located in a vehicle in a parking garage. The individual who had stolen the property (Individual 1) was sitting in the vehicle. The individual whose property had been stolen (Individual 2) was angry and told Ramos and Bustios that he wanted to take a swing at Individual 1. Ramos and Bustios allowed him to do so. While Ramos and Bustios watched, Individual 2 punched Individual 1, who fell to the ground and hit his head, causing bodily injury. Bustios filmed the encounter.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights and the deprivation of civil rights charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2020.

Bustios pleaded guilty in December 2018 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to extortion under color of official right. Torres pleaded guilty in May 2019 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 18, 2019. Toledo pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights, to using unreasonable and excessive force against individuals in Paterson, and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2019. On March 26, 2019, Pent was charged by complaint with conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights. The charge and allegations against him are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Defense counsel: Miles Feinstein Esq., Clifton, New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A City of Paterson police officer today admitted conspiring to violate the civil rights of individuals in Paterson, using unreasonable and excessive force, and filing a false police report to conceal his criminal activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Police Officer Frank Toledo, 30, of Paterson, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force in violation of individuals’ civil rights, and filing a false police report.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners remain committed to identifying and prosecuting corrupt police officers who violate the civil rights of our people,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said. “We will continue to aggressively pursue these cases, and we are grateful to our counterparts at the FBI, the Paterson Police Department and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, for their dedicated assistance on this investigation.”

“The FBI has a long history of standing with and assisting our fellow law enforcement officers,” Gregory W. Ehrie, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Newark, said. “When a police department finds rogue officers who violate civil rights, we will answer the call to help rid that department of anyone who tarnishes the badge they wear.”

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Toledo, along with other Paterson police officers, including Eudy Ramos, Jonathan Bustios, Daniel Pent, Matthew Torres, and others, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants. Toledo and the other officers also stopped and searched individuals on the streets of Paterson, and illegally took their money. Toledo and other officers arrested individuals in Paterson, took cash from them, and split it among themselves. To cover up their criminal activity, Toledo and his fellow officers then filed false police reports. For example, on Dec. 2, 2017, Toledo and Ramos stopped and arrested an individual in Paterson and stole approximately $1,000, which they split. Toledo and Ramos then filed a false police report omitting that they had stolen $1,000 from the arrestee.

Toledo communicated via text message with his conspirators regarding their illegal activity. In one text message, on Nov. 16, 2017, Toledo wrote to Bustios, “everything we do is illegal.” In another, Bustios sent Toledo a text message with an animated talking pig that said, “I’m tryin’ to go mango hunting. Let’s goooo.” Toledo replied with an address and wrote “meet me here,” telling Bustios to meet him at a location where they could look to illegally seize “mangos,” a code word for cash.

While on official duty, Toledo also routinely used unreasonable and excessive force in his encounters with individuals in Paterson, causing them bodily harm. For instance, in three incidents in 2017:

• Toledo chased and apprehended a juvenile, pushed the juvenile to the ground, and punched the juvenile several times. Toledo later told Bustios, “I’ve been borderline blacking out when I catch these n[ ]” and “I beat that n[ ] like he owed me money.” Toledo also told Bustios that when he used force on the juvenile, he “was no longer a cop.”

• Toledo and Ramos chased and tackled an individual in Paterson and struck the individual several times in the body. They then released the individual without filing charges. The incident was recorded by a third party and uploaded to YouTube. Toledo told Bustios that the individual who recorded the incident “missed the best part,” which was when Toledo “laid him out.” Toledo then said, “funny shit is that we cut him” and “didn’t even lock him up.”

• Toledo and Torres arrested an individual, handcuffed him behind his back, and placed him in the backseat of their police car. During the ride to police department headquarters, Toledo depressed the brakes on his police car in order to force the individual to slam his body and head against the divider in the backseat of the police car, a tactic known as “brake-checking.” Toledo recorded the incident on his cell phone and sent it to others.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights and the deprivation of civil rights charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2019.

Bustios pleaded guilty in December 2018 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to extortion under color of official right. Torres pleaded guilty in May 2019 to conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights and to filing a false police report. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2019.

Ramos was indicted in a nine-count indictment with conspiring to deprive individuals of their civils rights, depriving individuals of their civil rights, and filing false police reports. His case is pending before Judge Hayden. Daniel Pent was previously charged by complaint with conspiring to deprive individuals of their civil rights. His case, too, is pending. The charges and allegations against them are merely accusations, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

Defense counsel: Dennis S. Cleary Esq., West Orange, New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A City of Paterson police officer today admitted conspiring with other officers to violate the civil rights of individuals in Paterson, and to filing a false police report to conceal his criminal activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Police Officer Matthew Torres, 30, of Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and filing a false police report.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Torres, along with other Paterson police officers, including Eudy Ramos, Jonathan Bustios, Daniel Pent, and others, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants of the motor vehicles. Torres and the other officers sometimes used fake paperwork to trick individuals into believing that the cash seizures and vehicle stops represented legitimate law enforcement encounters. Torres and the other officers also stopped and searched individuals on the streets of Paterson, and illegally took their money. To cover up their criminal activity, Torres and his fellow officers filed false police reports.

For example, on Dec. 7, 2017, while on duty, Torres and Ramos conducted a vehicle stop in Paterson. Torres and Ramos searched the vehicle, the driver, and the passenger. The passenger advised Torres and Ramos that he had a small quantity of marijuana. He also had approximately $3,100. Ramos and Torres told the passenger that they could take $500 from the passenger and have him sign a piece of paper. Ramos then placed a call, purportedly to his superior, and told the passenger that the superior officer said it had to be $800. Ramos took out a piece of white paper, wrote something on it, and told the passenger to sign it. Afterwards, Torres and Ramos released the driver and passenger. Torres and Ramos stole approximately $800 from the passenger, and they shared the stolen cash proceeds. In order to conceal their theft of monies, Torres and Ramos each omitted the encounter from their daily Paterson Police Department activity logs.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2019.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

Defense counsel: John C. Whipple Esq., Morristown, New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A City of Paterson police officer was arrested today and charged with conspiring to violate the civil rights of motor vehicle occupants and others in Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Daniel Pent, 32, of Paterson, was arrested by special agents of the FBI on a complaint charging him with conspiring to deprive individuals of civil rights under color of law. Pent is scheduled to have his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Pent, and other Paterson police officers, including Eudy Ramos, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants of the motor vehicles. Pent, Ramos, and others also illegally stopped and searched individuals in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized cash from those individuals.

On Feb. 1, 2017, Pent and Ramos stopped and searched a vehicle in Paterson, detained and handcuffed the occupants, and stole approximately $10,000 from one of the occupants. Pent told Ramos that either they should take all of the money or they should take none of it, and they chose to take all of it. They split the money between themselves. Pent and Ramos subsequently arrested the victim and charged the victim with loitering in a drug area. Pent filled out a prisoner property report for the victim that falsely stated that the victim had approximately $36 on his person. Ramos and Pent submitted an incident report in which they omitted the fact that they had located, and seized, $10,000 from the victim.

A federal grand jury indicted Ramos on March 20, 2019, for his role in the conspiracy and other civil rights and false records charges. His case is pending before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.