Their arrests are connected to a wider investigation into the East Cleveland Police Department for corruption.
Two former East Cleveland, Ohio, police officers were sentenced this week for stealing thousands of dollars from people they pulled over during traffic stops.
A judge ordered Willie Sims, 32, to two years in prison Thursday. His partner, Alfonzo Cole, 35, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison and was fined $40,000, court records show.
In total, Sims and Cole stole $14,781 from six victims between July 2020 and July 2021 while on duty, prosecutors said. Cole also swiped two firearms from the victims, the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor said in a news release.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo told Sims that his actions have “disgraced” hard-working officers.
It’s on of those towns that is so corrupt and so delapitated there is really no hope for it. The city of Cleveland tried to annex it about 8 years ago to help restore it, but the city council put in all these weird stipulations to basically cement their power undemocratically and ensure they got lifetime paychecks to the point that eventually Cleveland had to walk away. This year, the Cleveland Metroparks, one of the best metropark systems in the country, tried to take over ownership of one of East Clevelands main parks to help bring it back from the brink, but again the East Cleveland leadership poisoned the pot so much the Metroparks had to walk too. Both of those things would have helped the residents immensely, but the local government just ruined it.