In my view Cops should get life in prison for these type of mistakes. They don't violate just the law like any other common citizen but they violate the sacred trust they are given by public who pays them and honors them for their good deeds. Cops need to understand that they will be convicted ten or hundred times the normal sentencing for similar crime.
This also shows that enforcement of enforcers should be even more stronger as we can't let these type of things happen.
Honestly, coming from India, even this three year term is also a very pleasant thing to hear. In my entire childhood life I never heard of any cop getting convicted or getting imprisoned. I am sure things are changing now. Still, one of the big reason I am here in US is that here I am not afraid of calling Cops for help or in other words I have blind trust on them. These types of actions from corrupt cops remind me of India and shake my confidence in system here as well. They should be punished ten or hundred times so that no other cop can think of doing anything illegal activity under any circumstances.
Humans are humans.. so there will be still these type of events in future. What we need to make sure that they happen rarely and if they happen, they should be detected quickly and resolved immediately.
Rojas
Convicted of giving documents to pay off loan.
The U.S. attorney’s office urged Koh to imprison the 38-year-old Rojas, saying his conduct “undermined the public’s confidence in law enforcement” and tarnished the image of the Santa Clara Police Department.
“There is frequently the perception cops get off easy,” assistant U.S. attorney Daniel Kaleba told Koh. “Let this case send a message.”
Sitting in the front row of the gallery behind the prosecution table, Santa Clara police brass lined up to call for a harsh punishment. Police Chief Kevin Kyle asked the judge to impose the 41 month term for the ex-officer’s “morally reprehensible” conduct.
“Truthfully,” Kyle said, “I think a term of 41 months is actually lenient and inadequate.”
Thomas Ferrito, Rojas’ lawyer, argued for probation, saying Rojas had a clean record, and his “complete lapse in judgment” did not warrant spending time behind bars.
Ferrito insisted that prosecutors and the media had overblown the link to the Hells Angels and that Rojas has atoned for his mistakes.
Others came to Rojas’ defense, including his pastor, his current boss and a former San Jose police lieutenant who once supervised him.
Rojas was arrested in 2010 after police learned he was giving the confidential data to Bettencourt, purportedly to pay off thousands of dollars in loans he owed the Hells Angel.
The department fired the five-year veteran after the scheme was revealed.
Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236. Follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz.
This also shows that enforcement of enforcers should be even more stronger as we can't let these type of things happen.
Honestly, coming from India, even this three year term is also a very pleasant thing to hear. In my entire childhood life I never heard of any cop getting convicted or getting imprisoned. I am sure things are changing now. Still, one of the big reason I am here in US is that here I am not afraid of calling Cops for help or in other words I have blind trust on them. These types of actions from corrupt cops remind me of India and shake my confidence in system here as well. They should be punished ten or hundred times so that no other cop can think of doing anything illegal activity under any circumstances.
Humans are humans.. so there will be still these type of events in future. What we need to make sure that they happen rarely and if they happen, they should be detected quickly and resolved immediately.
Rojas
Convicted of giving documents to pay off loan.
SANTA CLARA POLICE
Former cop gets three years
Judge worries that defendant hasn’t fully accepted responsibility for giving documents to Hells Angel
By Howard Mintz
hmintz@mercurynews.com
Former Santa Clara police Officer Clay Rojas, an ex-Marine once wounded in Iraq, will pay a steep price for getting too close to a felon and Hells Angel.
Rejecting Rojas’ plea for leniency, a federal judge Wednesday sentenced the disgraced ex-cop to three years in prison for his role in illegally supplying confidential law enforcement information to a Hells Angel to pay off a debt of a few thousand dollars.
In a packed San Jose courtroom, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh sentenced Rojas, expressing concern that the veteran police officer had not fully accepted responsibility for his crimes in statements to probation investigators. The sentence was just below the 41-month prison term federal prosecutors and the probation department had sought.
“It’s telling me he doesn’t understand still that what he did was illegal and was wrong,” the judge said. “This is a sad day for everyone.”
With his wife, father and other supporters behind him, Rojas stood stoically to hear his sentence moments after apologizing to his former police colleagues, his family and the “citizens of Santa Clara.”
Rojas told the judge he had “regretfully slipped” and “violated his ethical code.”
Koh ordered him to surrender to U.S. Marshals on March 30 to begin serving his prison time. Rojas declined to comment outside court.
A jury last year convicted him of 12 felony charges stemming from allegations that he gave the privileged law enforcement material, such as criminal histories and DMV records, to William “Billy” Bettencourt, a known felon and member of the Santa Cruz chapter of the biker gang.
Former cop gets three years
Judge worries that defendant hasn’t fully accepted responsibility for giving documents to Hells Angel
By Howard Mintz
hmintz@mercurynews.com
Former Santa Clara police Officer Clay Rojas, an ex-Marine once wounded in Iraq, will pay a steep price for getting too close to a felon and Hells Angel.
Rejecting Rojas’ plea for leniency, a federal judge Wednesday sentenced the disgraced ex-cop to three years in prison for his role in illegally supplying confidential law enforcement information to a Hells Angel to pay off a debt of a few thousand dollars.
In a packed San Jose courtroom, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh sentenced Rojas, expressing concern that the veteran police officer had not fully accepted responsibility for his crimes in statements to probation investigators. The sentence was just below the 41-month prison term federal prosecutors and the probation department had sought.
“It’s telling me he doesn’t understand still that what he did was illegal and was wrong,” the judge said. “This is a sad day for everyone.”
With his wife, father and other supporters behind him, Rojas stood stoically to hear his sentence moments after apologizing to his former police colleagues, his family and the “citizens of Santa Clara.”
Rojas told the judge he had “regretfully slipped” and “violated his ethical code.”
Koh ordered him to surrender to U.S. Marshals on March 30 to begin serving his prison time. Rojas declined to comment outside court.
A jury last year convicted him of 12 felony charges stemming from allegations that he gave the privileged law enforcement material, such as criminal histories and DMV records, to William “Billy” Bettencourt, a known felon and member of the Santa Cruz chapter of the biker gang.
The U.S. attorney’s office urged Koh to imprison the 38-year-old Rojas, saying his conduct “undermined the public’s confidence in law enforcement” and tarnished the image of the Santa Clara Police Department.
“There is frequently the perception cops get off easy,” assistant U.S. attorney Daniel Kaleba told Koh. “Let this case send a message.”
Sitting in the front row of the gallery behind the prosecution table, Santa Clara police brass lined up to call for a harsh punishment. Police Chief Kevin Kyle asked the judge to impose the 41 month term for the ex-officer’s “morally reprehensible” conduct.
“Truthfully,” Kyle said, “I think a term of 41 months is actually lenient and inadequate.”
Thomas Ferrito, Rojas’ lawyer, argued for probation, saying Rojas had a clean record, and his “complete lapse in judgment” did not warrant spending time behind bars.
Ferrito insisted that prosecutors and the media had overblown the link to the Hells Angels and that Rojas has atoned for his mistakes.
Others came to Rojas’ defense, including his pastor, his current boss and a former San Jose police lieutenant who once supervised him.
Rojas was arrested in 2010 after police learned he was giving the confidential data to Bettencourt, purportedly to pay off thousands of dollars in loans he owed the Hells Angel.
The department fired the five-year veteran after the scheme was revealed.
Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236. Follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz.
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