MIAMI (RNN) - A former police chief and two officers have been indicted for allegedly framing a 16-year-old for burglaries he didn't commit to keep a "100-percent clearance rate for burglaries."
Former Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano, as well as officers Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez, were indicted by federal officials for "conspiracy to violate civil rights under color of law" and deprivation of civil rights under the law, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida.
According to authorities, Atesiano ordered Dayoub and Fernandez to arrest the teen, known in the legal filings as "J.D.," for four unsolved burglaries on June 13, 2013, "knowing that there was no evidence and no lawful basis to support such charges."
The officers gathered information and filed arrest paperwork saying that an investigation pointed to the teen committing burglaries of unoccupied homes.
Less than a month later, Atesiano touted his "100-percent clearance rate" at a meeting of the City Council for The Village of Biscayne Park.
Atesiano, Dayoub and Fernandez appeared in court Monday. They face a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.
The FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the case.
Biscayne Park is a village of about 3,200 people in northeast Miami-Dade County with a police department of 11 officers.
Despite its small size, the department has faced a number of scandals, including a "joke" loan involving Atesiano and a subordinate, the resignation of Atesiano and the chief that followed him, the hiring of a reserve officer despite 10 other departments rejecting him, and an officer assaulting two people while on duty and falsifying police reports, the Miami Herald reported.
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