NYPD officer who helped Dominican Republic drug ring gets 33 months in prison

A erstwhile NYPD serviceman who leaked accusation to an planetary cocaine trafficking ring volition walk 33 months successful national situation aft a Brooklyn justice said helium “betrayed that ineffable trust” fixed to constabulary officers.

Amaury Abreu, 38, an 11-year NYPD veteran, had a concealed 2nd life arsenic the adjacent confidant to the person of a cause ringing that smuggled hundreds of kilos of cocaine from the Dominican Republic to New York City and Long Island.

He personally took portion successful a 1-kilo woody successful 2016, and helped the cause ringing by accessing an NYPD apprehension database to cheque if a subordinate of the pack had a warrant against him a fewer days earlier the antheral traveled to the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.

He besides provided the ring’s leader, Ramon Romero, with info connected a instrumentality enforcement cognition against members of a rival cause ring, and provided him a licence sheet to assistance him debar constabulary attention, the feds said. Romero pleaded blameworthy to conspiracy to import narcotics successful June, and is awaiting sentencing.

Abreu, who worked retired of the 113th Precinct successful Queens, was arrested successful November 2020 and pleaded blameworthy to a narcotics conspiracy complaint past year. He retired from the NYPD past twelvemonth arsenic well.

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Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News

The NYPD 113th Precinct stationhouse connected Baisley Blvd. successful Queens. (Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News)

In an affectional plea for the court’s mercy, Abreu begged for 3 months of location confinement, saying helium had “tremendous remorse, shame and regret” for his actions.

Dozens of his household members packed the rows astatine his Brooklyn Federal Court sentencing Monday, including his infirm father, for whom helium acts arsenic caretaker.

Abreu said helium wrongly treated the cause ring’s person arsenic a champion person and a brother, and should person turned distant aft learning his existent nature.

“My loyalty should person been to my friends and my household … my household and the nationalist that I served,” helium said. “I fto my request for validation enactment myself, my family, mean citizens astatine risk.”

He promised Judge William Kuntz that he’ll ne'er upwind up successful a transgression courtroom again. “All I privation to bash is to effort to marque up for my wrongs,” helium said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Reid pointed retired that Abreu’s transgression didn’t magnitude to a one-off incidental involving a cause woody successful 2016, but alternatively helium helped the cause ringing respective times, and adjacent traveled to the Dominican Republic successful 2020 to bent retired with Romero.

“Those betrayals matter,” she said.

Kuntz, who for years sat connected the NYPD’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, told Abreu, “The enactment officers are the astir important. They defender america from the evil that lurks successful each neighborhood, successful each portion of our metropolis … Sir, you betrayed that ineffable trust.”

He added, “You lone shamed yourself, and that is wherefore this is specified a very, precise bittersweet day.”

Abreu indispensable surrender by Jan. 20 to commencement his sentence.