SUB-HEADING: "Lee County Sheriff's detectives said Niko Irizarry falsified an arrest report after a conspirator planted drugs and offered to pay him for the arrest."
GIST: "A former Lee County deputy accused of contributing to a wrongful arrest in a plot last year was sentenced this week for his role in the conspiracy.
Niko Irizarry, 26, of Cape Coral, pleaded no contest on Feb. 20 to one count of official misconduct and was sentenced Tuesday to 364 days in jail with credit time served, followed by 36 months of probation.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said he fired Irizarry on Feb. 11, 2022.
Irizarry arrested a person for drug trafficking on Dec. 15, 2021, related to fentanyl.
In early January, the sheriff's office received information the arrest wasn't lawful, and authorities launched a probe with the sheriff's office's Major Crimes Task Force.
The investigation found the drugs were planted in the suspect's car, who wasn't aware of the conspiracy.
As authorities questioned him, Irizarry confessed to lying during a sworn statement, according to his arrest affidavit, and said he was offered a reward by one of the co-conspirators if he arrested the suspect.
Irizarry worked for the sheriff's correction bureau in 2018 before returning in 2020. He had no previously disciplinary action, records indicate.
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Recent arrests of LCSO deputies (Welcome to Lee County. HL);
Since Irizarry's arrest, at least three other Lee County deputies have been arrested on different charges.
Casey Howell, 26, and Enzo Finamore, 24, were arrested in February after an investigation found they poured hot water on several inmates, causing first- and second-degree burns. They're both scheduled for a June 22 docket sounding hearing.
Most recently, Giray Uzen, 18, of Naples, was arrested after detectives discovered a snapshot of the Lee County Sheriff's Office computer screen containing sensitive information.
Uzen is accused of leaking information regarding the sheriff's office's investigation into street racing and posting it on Snapchat.
Court records as of Friday morning didn't list Uzen's next court date."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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