OAKLAND — A former law enforcement officer who worked in Oakland and Pittsburg has been sentenced to 90 days in federal prison, the latest result in the ongoing prosecution of 14 ex-cops from East Contra Costa.
Brauli Rodriguez-Jalapa, of Clayton, warned of the dangers of alcohol addiction and apologized for his role in a scheme among a half-dozen officers to fraudulently obtain educational incentive pay by cheating on college courses. In an emotional statement to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, Rodriguez-Jalapa said he’d accept whatever fate the court decided.
“There is no one to blame but myself,” Rodriguez Jalapa said. “I took an oath to uphold the law and I violated it by my own actions. And for that, I have earned my punishment and will accept without issue whatever sentence you feel is appropriate.”
White has handed out jail sentences to every former cop so far in this case — except a community service officer who received probation — and said he weighed Rodriguez-Jalapa’s acceptance of responsibility against the need to hold officers accountable for criminal wrongdoing.
“Society at large has to be able to trust their sworn peace officers. They are, in some ways, the embodiment of the rule of law,” White told the former officer, who worked for the Oakland Housing Authority and city of Pittsburg.
He also noted that Rodriguez-Jalapa was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and threatening police months after being indicted. That incident, as well as a similar arrest in Brentwood years earlier, showed a “lack of control, a lack of respect for the law,” White said.
Rodriguez-Jalapa spent most of his apology focused on his alcohol addiction.
“I have very serious physical and mental issues due to giving my heart and soul to the profession and community that I adored,” Rodriguez-Jalapa said, his voice breaking. He said that it came from dealing with “stabbings, gunshot wounds, suicides and accidents,” as well as “personal assaults on me” and crimes against children. One day he realized his sense of stability was spinning out of control, he told the judge.
“I cannot live my life like a normal person anymore … I found alcohol to be an escape,” Rodriguez-Jalapa said.
Rodriguez-Jalapa’s lawyer asked for no jail time, arguing that he deserved leniency because he was the only co-defendant in the case who didn’t actually receive a fraudulent pay bump. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Cheng said that’s because the co-conspirators became nervous about their ongoing scam and decided to end it before Rodriguez-Jalapa’s fake case work was completed.
“It wasn’t a situation where this defendant changed his mind about what he was doing and decided to withdraw,” Cheng said.
Prosecutors asked for a six-month jail sentence.
Jalapa-Rodriguez was among six ex-Pittsburg and Antioch cops to be indicted last year on charges that they engaged in a criminal conspiracy and committed wire fraud. Another ex-Pittsburg officer named Patrick Berhan — who received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence — was the mastermind behind the scheme, accepting payments for his fiancée to take classes for other officers.
The scheme came to light after Berhan cheated on the woman and she came forward. Her tip to the FBI led to a much larger scandal. The FBI conducted raids, seized officers’ cellphones and found evidence of steroid dealing, civil rights violations by three officers who plotted unwarranted violence in Antioch and other financial crimes, according to prosecutors.
In the college-degree scam, five of the six defendants pleaded guilty. The lone holdout was Morteza Amiri, a former Antioch K9 officer who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy and is awaiting sentence.
Amiri also faces charges of conspiring with two colleagues — ex-Antioch officers Eric Rombough and Devon Wenger — to assault civilians while on-duty. The trio is expected to face a trial this year.
